Legal Land Description Lookup: Find Any Land Parcel in Canada

A legal land description (LLD) is the official way land parcels are identified across Canada. Whether you're looking up a DLS location in Alberta, an NTS reference in British Columbia, or a Lot and Concession in Ontario, Township Canada converts any legal land description to GPS coordinates and displays it on a map.

What Is a Legal Land Description?

Canada uses several survey systems depending on the province:

• DLS (Dominion Land Survey): Used in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and BC's Peace River region. Describes land by Meridian, Range, Township, Section, Quarter Section, and LSD. Example: NE 14-032-21W4.
• NTS (National Topographic System): Used primarily in British Columbia. Describes land by Map Series, Map Area, Map Sheet, Block, Unit, and Quarter Unit. Example: A-2-F/93-P-8.
• Geographic Townships: Used in Ontario. Describes land by Township name, Concession, and Lot. Example: Lot 15, Concession 3, Chinguacousy.
• River/Parish Lots: Used in parts of Manitoba near Winnipeg, along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
• FPS (Federal Permit System): Used in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and offshore areas.

Each system has its own notation, but they all serve the same purpose: pinpointing a specific parcel of land. The glossary has detailed definitions for every term in these systems.

When You Need a Legal Land Description Lookup

An environmental consultant in BC receives a remediation report referencing NTS location B-16-J/94-A-1. They need to see this parcel on a map, confirm it's in the right area, and get GPS coordinates for their field team.

A title searcher in Ontario is reviewing a property deed that says "Part of Lot 22, Concession 5, Township of Tiny." They need to confirm the geographic location before proceeding with the search.

A land technician in Alberta has a spreadsheet of 200 legal land descriptions from various regulatory filings — a mix of quarter sections, LSDs, and full sections. They need GPS coordinates for all of them before a deadline.

In each case, the job starts with looking up the legal description and getting usable coordinates.

How to Look Up a Legal Land Description

Step 1: Go to Township Canada

Open Township Canada in your browser. The search bar accepts legal land descriptions from all supported Canadian survey systems.

Step 2: Enter the Description

Type or paste the legal land description. Township Canada automatically detects which system you're using:

• DLS/LSD: 06-32-048-07W5 or NE 14-032-21W4
• NTS: A-2-F/93-P-8
• Ontario: Lot 15, Concession 3, Chinguacousy
• Manitoba River Lot: River Lot 52, Parish of St. Vital

No need to select a system or province — the converter figures it out from the format.

Step 3: Review the Result

Township Canada returns:

• GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) for the center of the parcel
• Map view with the parcel boundary outlined on the survey grid
• Parcel hierarchy — which township, range, section (or equivalent) the parcel belongs to
• Satellite imagery on Pro and Business plans

Step 4: Export or Navigate

You can:

• Copy coordinates to use in Google Maps, GPS devices, or GIS software
• Get driving directions to the parcel
• Save the location for later (saved places guide)
• Export as PDF, CSV, KML, Shapefile, GeoJSON, or DXF (export guide)

Step 5: Bulk Lookup (Optional)

For large datasets, prepare a CSV and upload it to the batch converter. It processes thousands of legal land descriptions in one upload, returning GPS coordinates for every row. This is available on the Business plan.

Example Lookups

Alberta LSD: Enter 06-32-048-07W5 — returns approximately 52.33°N, 114.98°W, a 40-acre parcel near Rocky Mountain House.

Saskatchewan Quarter Section: Enter SE 15-028-03W3 — returns approximately 50.98°N, 106.38°W, a 160-acre parcel west of Saskatoon, in an area of active grain farming.

BC NTS: Enter A-2-F/93-P-8 — returns coordinates in northeastern BC's Peace River region, where both NTS and DLS systems overlap. For more on BC lookups, see the BC NTS converter page.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Incomplete descriptions: 32-048-07 without a meridian is ambiguous. Always include the full description — meridian for DLS, map series for NTS, township name for Ontario.
• Mixing systems: DLS and NTS are completely different grids. An Alberta LSD won't parse as NTS notation and vice versa. Make sure you're using the right system for the province.
• Skipping verification: After looking up a description, check the map view to visually confirm the result is where you expect. This catches transposition errors before they cause problems in the field.

For LSD-specific searches, see the LSD finder. For quarter section lookups, use the quarter section finder. For DLS-to-GPS conversion details, see the DLS to GPS converter guide.

Look Up a Legal Land Description Now

Try it — enter NE 14-032-21W4 into the Township Canada converter to see the GPS coordinates and map location. Or paste any legal description from your own documents and get results in seconds.