[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"learn-\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator":3,"learn-related-industries\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator":314},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":289,"createdAt":289,"cta":290,"description":292,"extension":293,"icon":289,"industry":294,"keywords":295,"meta":301,"navigation":302,"path":303,"province":289,"relatedPages":304,"section":306,"seo":307,"stem":308,"systems":309,"updatedAt":289,"__hash__":313},"learn\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator.md","ArcGIS Pro Legal Land Description Locator — DLS and NTS Search for GIS Professionals",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":273},"minimark",[9,14,23,26,29,34,39,55,59,73,77,85,89,92,96,107,121,127,133,137,140,182,185,189,200,221,225,249,262],[10,11,13],"h1",{"id":12},"arcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator","ArcGIS Pro Legal Land Description Locator",[15,16,17,18,22],"p",{},"ArcGIS Pro does not include a DLS or NTS locator. Type ",[19,20,21],"code",{},"NW-36-42-3-W5"," into the Locate pane and nothing comes back. Esri has confirmed there are no plans to add Canadian legal land description support — not in version 3.7, not with the NATRF2022 datum update.",[15,24,25],{},"That creates a daily friction point for GIS professionals across Western Canada. Well licence locations, pipeline corridors, mineral rights parcels, and cadastral survey plans all reference DLS quarter sections and NTS grid cells, but ArcGIS Pro can't resolve those descriptions to map coordinates. Every lookup requires leaving the GIS environment, converting in a separate tool, and bringing the coordinates back in.",[15,27,28],{},"Township Canada's ArcGIS Pro Python toolbox adds a native legal land description locator directly inside ArcGIS Pro. Search DLS and NTS descriptions from the Locate pane, batch convert entire tables to feature classes, and reverse geocode map clicks back to legal land descriptions — all without switching applications.",[30,31,33],"h2",{"id":32},"gis-workflows-that-need-a-dlsnts-locator","GIS Workflows That Need a DLS\u002FNTS Locator",[35,36,38],"h3",{"id":37},"well-licence-and-regulatory-filing","Well Licence and Regulatory Filing",[15,40,41,46,47,50,51,54],{},[42,43,45],"a",{"href":44},"\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Foil-and-gas","Oil and gas"," GIS analysts process well licence locations listed as LSDs — ",[19,48,49],{},"LSD 06-32-048-07W5",", ",[19,52,53],{},"NE 14-032-21W4"," — for AER submissions and pipeline route planning. Without an ArcGIS Pro legal land description locator, each description has to be converted in a browser, the coordinates copied, and the results pasted back into a feature class. For a regulatory filing with 50 well locations, that means 50 round trips between applications.",[35,56,58],{"id":57},"cadastral-survey-planning","Cadastral Survey Planning",[15,60,61,65,66,50,69,72],{},[42,62,64],{"href":63},"\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Fsurveying","Surveying"," firms receive contract packages listing section corners and parcel boundaries in DLS format. Plotting 25 section corners along a proposed highway corridor in Saskatchewan — ",[19,67,68],{},"32-048-07W3",[19,70,71],{},"33-048-07W3",", and so on — means 25 individual lookups unless the GIS software can resolve them natively. The Township Canada toolbox batch converts the entire contract table in one run, producing a point feature class ready for field planning.",[35,74,76],{"id":75},"environmental-and-renewable-energy-assessment","Environmental and Renewable Energy Assessment",[15,78,79,80,84],{},"Environmental assessments and ",[42,81,83],{"href":82},"\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Frenewable-energy","renewable energy site selection"," often cover dozens of quarter sections across mixed survey systems. A wind farm feasibility study might span DLS quarter sections in the Peace River block and NTS grid references in the rest of BC. The batch geoprocessing tool handles both systems in a single run — no need to split the input file by survey type.",[35,86,88],{"id":87},"field-verification-with-reverse-geocode","Field Verification with Reverse Geocode",[15,90,91],{},"A pipeline integrity crew reviewing a right-of-way in ArcGIS Pro can click any point on the map and immediately see which quarter section or LSD that location falls within. The reverse geocode function converts GPS coordinates back to a legal land description — useful for confirming that a well pad, surface disturbance, or lease boundary matches the location recorded in regulatory filings.",[30,93,95],{"id":94},"what-the-arcgis-pro-toolbox-provides","What the ArcGIS Pro Toolbox Provides",[15,97,98,99,102,103,106],{},"The Python toolbox (",[19,100,101],{},"TownshipCanada.pyt",") installs as a standard ArcGIS Pro toolbox with no extra Python dependencies. It uses only ",[19,104,105],{},"urllib.request",", which ships with ArcGIS Pro.",[15,108,109,113,114,116,117,120],{},[110,111,112],"strong",{},"Locate pane search",": Type a DLS quarter section like ",[19,115,21],{}," or an NTS reference like ",[19,118,119],{},"093P08"," into the ArcGIS Pro search bar. The locator geocodes the description to a point on the map, suggests matches as you type, and supports reverse geocode — click a location to get its legal land description.",[15,122,123,126],{},[110,124,125],{},"Batch geoprocessing",": Point the tool at a table column containing legal land descriptions. It converts every row to a point feature class with GPS coordinates, province, and survey system attributes. Optionally, it generates a boundary polygon feature class with actual parcel geometry, not just centre points.",[15,128,129,132],{},[110,130,131],{},"No application switching",": Both tools run inside the ArcGIS Pro Geoprocessing pane. Results are added directly to the current map as feature classes, ready for overlay analysis, export, or further processing.",[35,134,136],{"id":135},"example-batch-converting-a-well-inventory","Example: Batch Converting a Well Inventory",[15,138,139],{},"An O&G GIS analyst receives a spreadsheet of well locations from the AER:",[141,142,143,156],"table",{},[144,145,146],"thead",{},[147,148,149,153],"tr",{},[150,151,152],"th",{},"Well Name",[150,154,155],{},"Legal Land Description",[157,158,159,167,175],"tbody",{},[147,160,161,165],{},[162,163,164],"td",{},"Ferrier 06-32",[162,166,49],{},[147,168,169,172],{},[162,170,171],{},"Pembina 14-27",[162,173,174],{},"LSD 14-27-048-05W5",[147,176,177,180],{},[162,178,179],{},"Drumheller NE-14",[162,181,53],{},[15,183,184],{},"Open the batch geoprocessing tool, select the column, and run. The result is two feature classes — points and polygons — added directly to the map. One point near Rocky Mountain House, one near Drayton Valley, one near Drumheller. Each carries the original description, GPS coordinates, and survey system as attributes.",[30,186,188],{"id":187},"beyond-arcgis-pro-desktop","Beyond ArcGIS Pro Desktop",[15,190,191,192,195,196,199],{},"Township Canada's Esri integration extends beyond the desktop toolbox. An ",[110,193,194],{},"Experience Builder widget"," brings legal land description search to ArcGIS Online web maps — search with autocomplete, boundary polygon display, and reverse geocode for browser-based teams (compatible with Experience Builder 1.14+). For field crews, the ",[110,197,198],{},"Survey123 integration"," converts legal land descriptions entered in field forms to GPS coordinates automatically via a Make.com webhook pipeline.",[15,201,202,203,50,207,50,211,215,216,220],{},"For GIS teams working outside Esri, Township Canada also supports ",[42,204,206],{"href":205},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmapbox-integration","Mapbox",[42,208,210],{"href":209},"\u002Fguides\u002Fleaflet-integration","Leaflet",[42,212,214],{"href":213},"\u002Fguides\u002Fopenlayers-integration","OpenLayers",", and ",[42,217,219],{"href":218},"\u002Fguides\u002Fgoogle-maps-integration","Google Maps",".",[30,222,224],{"id":223},"getting-started","Getting Started",[226,227,228,237,243,246],"ol",{},[229,230,231,232,236],"li",{},"Sign up at the ",[42,233,235],{"href":234},"\u002Fapi","API portal"," — plans start at $20\u002Fmonth for 1,000 requests",[229,238,239,240,242],{},"Download ",[19,241,101],{}," from the ArcGIS Marketplace",[229,244,245],{},"Add the toolbox in ArcGIS Pro's Catalog pane and configure your API key",[229,247,248],{},"Run your first search from the Locate pane — under five minutes from install to first result",[15,250,251,252,256,257,261],{},"For a step-by-step installation walkthrough, see the ",[42,253,255],{"href":254},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator","ArcGIS Pro locator how-to guide",". If you're migrating from ArcMap, the ",[42,258,260],{"href":259},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Farcmap-to-arcgis-pro-dls-migration","ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro migration guide"," covers how to restore your DLS lookup workflows in the new environment.",[15,263,264,265,267,268,272],{},"Try a conversion now — enter ",[110,266,21],{}," into the ",[42,269,271],{"href":270},"\u002F?example=NW-36-42-3-W5","Township Canada search"," to see what the ArcGIS Pro locator returns: GPS coordinates, boundary polygon, and survey grid context for a quarter section near Sundre, Alberta.",{"title":274,"searchDepth":275,"depth":275,"links":276},"",2,[277,284,287,288],{"id":32,"depth":275,"text":33,"children":278},[279,281,282,283],{"id":37,"depth":280,"text":38},3,{"id":57,"depth":280,"text":58},{"id":75,"depth":280,"text":76},{"id":87,"depth":280,"text":88},{"id":94,"depth":275,"text":95,"children":285},[286],{"id":135,"depth":280,"text":136},{"id":187,"depth":275,"text":188},{"id":223,"depth":275,"text":224},null,{"label":291,"href":270},"Try the ArcGIS Pro locator","Search DLS and NTS legal land descriptions in ArcGIS Pro with a native Python toolbox. Batch convert, reverse geocode, and map Canadian locations in Esri.","md","gis",[296,297,298,299,300],"arcgis pro legal land description locator","arcgis pro dls locator","esri dls nts search","arcgis pro canadian survey","arcgis legal land description",{},true,"\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator",[254,44,63,305],"\u002Fguides\u002Fapi-integration","industries",{"title":5,"description":292},"learn\u002Findustries\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator",[310,311,312],"DLS","NTS","LSD","cEI_AXqM6SqZb2Txrj5hrBXdYsxykC-P2xzrskI8F4Y",[315,632,940],{"id":316,"title":317,"body":318,"category":289,"createdAt":289,"cta":618,"description":620,"extension":293,"icon":289,"industry":289,"keywords":621,"meta":625,"navigation":302,"path":254,"province":289,"relatedPages":626,"section":627,"seo":628,"stem":629,"systems":630,"updatedAt":289,"__hash__":631},"learn\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator.md","ArcGIS Pro Legal Land Description Locator — DLS and NTS Search in Esri",{"type":7,"value":319,"toc":600},[320,322,325,336,343,347,353,367,373,377,381,388,392,409,413,421,425,429,435,439,463,467,470,474,480,486,490,493,524,527,544,548,557,576,580,590,594],[10,321,13],{"id":12},[15,323,324],{},"ArcGIS Pro does not include a native locator for Canadian legal land descriptions. If you type \"NE 14-032-21W4\" into the ArcGIS Pro search bar, it returns nothing. Esri confirmed there are no plans to add DLS or NTS support — not even with the NATRF2022 datum update in version 3.7.",[15,326,327,328,331,332,335],{},"That's a problem if you're a GIS analyst at an oil and gas company, a geomatics engineer running cadastral surveys, or a land technician mapping pipeline corridors. Your data references ",[42,329,310],{"href":330},"\u002Flearn\u002Fsystems\u002Fdls"," quarter sections and ",[42,333,312],{"href":334},"\u002Flearn\u002Fsystems\u002Flsd"," parcels, but your GIS software doesn't know what they are.",[15,337,338,339,342],{},"Township Canada's ArcGIS Pro Python toolbox fills that gap. It adds a legal land description locator directly to ArcGIS Pro — search DLS and ",[42,340,311],{"href":341},"\u002Flearn\u002Fsystems\u002Fnts"," descriptions from the search bar, batch convert tables of locations to feature classes, and display parcel boundaries on any map.",[30,344,346],{"id":345},"what-the-arcgis-pro-toolbox-does","What the ArcGIS Pro Toolbox Does",[15,348,349,350,352],{},"The Township Canada Python toolbox (",[19,351,101],{},") installs as a standard ArcGIS Pro toolbox and provides two main capabilities:",[15,354,355,358,359,50,361,50,363,366],{},[110,356,357],{},"Search bar locator",": Type any DLS or NTS description into the ArcGIS Pro search bar — ",[19,360,49],{},[19,362,53],{},[19,364,365],{},"NTS 093P09"," — and the locator returns the GPS coordinates and zooms to the location on your map. No tab-switching, no copy-paste from a browser.",[15,368,369,372],{},[110,370,371],{},"Batch geoprocessing tool",": Point the tool at a table or feature class containing a column of legal land descriptions. It converts every row to a point feature class with latitude, longitude, and the original description. Optionally, it also generates a polygon feature class with the parcel boundaries. Useful for processing well inventories, pipeline route tables, or mineral rights spreadsheets that list hundreds of DLS locations.",[30,374,376],{"id":375},"when-you-need-this","When You Need This",[35,378,380],{"id":379},"gis-analysts-in-oil-and-gas","GIS Analysts in Oil and Gas",[15,382,383,384,387],{},"An ",[42,385,386],{"href":44},"oil and gas"," company receives a spreadsheet of 400 well locations from the AER, all in LSD format. The GIS team needs these as a point layer in their ArcGIS Pro project to run proximity analysis against existing infrastructure. Without a locator, they'd export the spreadsheet, convert it in a separate tool, re-import the coordinates, and join them back. The batch geoprocessing tool does it in one step inside ArcGIS Pro.",[35,389,391],{"id":390},"surveyors-planning-fieldwork","Surveyors Planning Fieldwork",[15,393,394,395,398,399,403,404,50,406,408],{},"A ",[42,396,397],{"href":63},"surveying"," firm wins a contract to monument 25 section corners along a proposed highway corridor in ",[42,400,402],{"href":401},"\u002Flearn\u002Fprovinces\u002Fsaskatchewan","Saskatchewan",". The contract lists each location as a DLS section reference — ",[19,405,68],{},[19,407,71],{},", and so on. The survey crew lead opens ArcGIS Pro, runs the batch tool against the contract table, and gets a point layer with all 25 locations plotted on the survey grid and satellite imagery. Field planning that used to take an afternoon now takes five minutes.",[35,410,412],{"id":411},"environmental-consultants","Environmental Consultants",[15,414,415,416,420],{},"An environmental assessment covers 60 quarter sections across the Peace River region of ",[42,417,419],{"href":418},"\u002Flearn\u002Fprovinces\u002Fbritish-columbia","British Columbia",". Some locations use DLS notation (the Peace River block) and others use NTS grid references (the rest of BC). The toolbox handles both systems in the same batch run — no need to separate the file by survey system.",[30,422,424],{"id":423},"how-to-set-it-up","How to Set It Up",[35,426,428],{"id":427},"step-1-get-a-township-canada-api-key","Step 1: Get a Township Canada API Key",[15,430,431,432,434],{},"The ArcGIS Pro toolbox connects to the Township Canada API. Sign up at the ",[42,433,235],{"href":234}," — plans start at $20\u002Fmonth for 1,000 requests. If you're running batch jobs with hundreds of locations, the Scale plan at $100\u002Fmonth covers 10,000 requests.",[35,436,438],{"id":437},"step-2-install-the-toolbox","Step 2: Install the Toolbox",[15,440,239,441,443,444,450,451,454,455,458,459,462],{},[19,442,101],{}," from the ",[42,445,449],{"href":446,"rel":447},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.arcgis.com\u002Fhome\u002Fgroup.html",[448],"nofollow","ArcGIS Marketplace",". In ArcGIS Pro, right-click ",[110,452,453],{},"Toolboxes"," in the Catalog pane, select ",[110,456,457],{},"Add Toolbox",", and browse to the ",[19,460,461],{},".pyt"," file. The toolbox appears under your project toolboxes.",[35,464,466],{"id":465},"step-3-configure-your-api-key","Step 3: Configure Your API Key",[15,468,469],{},"Open the toolbox properties and enter your Township Canada API key. The key is stored in your ArcGIS Pro project settings — you only configure it once.",[35,471,473],{"id":472},"step-4-search-or-batch-convert","Step 4: Search or Batch Convert",[15,475,476,479],{},[110,477,478],{},"To search",": Type a legal land description in the ArcGIS Pro Locate pane. The Township Canada locator appears as a search provider alongside Esri's default geocoders.",[15,481,482,485],{},[110,483,484],{},"To batch convert",": Open the Township Canada geoprocessing tool from the toolbox. Select your input table, specify which column contains the legal land descriptions, and run. The output is a point feature class (and optional polygon feature class) added directly to your map.",[30,487,489],{"id":488},"example-converting-a-well-inventory","Example: Converting a Well Inventory",[15,491,492],{},"Input table with 3 rows:",[141,494,495,504],{},[144,496,497],{},[147,498,499,501],{},[150,500,152],{},[150,502,503],{},"LLD",[157,505,506,512,518],{},[147,507,508,510],{},[162,509,164],{},[162,511,49],{},[147,513,514,516],{},[162,515,171],{},[162,517,174],{},[147,519,520,522],{},[162,521,179],{},[162,523,53],{},[15,525,526],{},"After running the batch tool, ArcGIS Pro displays three points on the map — one near Rocky Mountain House, one near Drayton Valley, and one near Drumheller. Each point carries the original LLD, GPS coordinates, province, and survey system as attributes.",[15,528,529,530,534,535,539,540,220],{},"Export the results as a shapefile, geodatabase feature class, or any format ArcGIS Pro supports. For teams that also need data in KML, GeoJSON, or CSV, the ",[42,531,533],{"href":532},"\u002F","Township Canada web app"," offers those ",[42,536,538],{"href":537},"\u002Fguides\u002Fdownload-results","export formats"," on the ",[42,541,543],{"href":542},"\u002Fpricing","Business plan",[30,545,547],{"id":546},"beyond-arcgis-pro","Beyond ArcGIS Pro",[15,549,550,551,553,554,556],{},"Township Canada's Esri integration also includes an ",[110,552,194],{}," for ArcGIS Online — add legal land description search with autocomplete to any web map experience — and a ",[110,555,198],{}," for field data collection. If a field crew enters a DLS description in a Survey123 form, the integration auto-converts it to GPS coordinates and updates the feature layer.",[15,558,559,560,50,562,50,564,215,566,570,571,575],{},"For GIS teams working outside Esri, Township Canada also has integration guides for ",[42,561,206],{"href":205},[42,563,210],{"href":209},[42,565,214],{"href":213},[42,567,569],{"href":568},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaplibre-integration","MapLibre",". And for data teams running ",[42,572,574],{"href":573},"\u002Fblog\u002Fsnowflake-dls-enrichment","Snowflake",", there's a SQL-native conversion function.",[30,577,579],{"id":578},"migrating-from-arcmap","Migrating from ArcMap?",[15,581,582,583,586,587,589],{},"Esri retired ArcMap in March 2026. If you have existing DLS locators, batch geocoding tables, or ",[19,584,585],{},".mxd"," projects that need to move to ArcGIS Pro, see the ",[42,588,260],{"href":259}," — it covers what breaks and the steps to restore legal land description functionality.",[30,591,593],{"id":592},"try-a-legal-land-description-now","Try a Legal Land Description Now",[15,595,596,597,599],{},"Enter ",[110,598,49],{}," into the [Township Canada converter](\u002F?example=LSD 06-32-048-07W5) to see what the ArcGIS Pro locator returns — GPS coordinates, parcel boundary, and survey grid context for a 40-acre parcel near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Or search any DLS or NTS description from your own project files.",{"title":274,"searchDepth":275,"depth":275,"links":601},[602,603,608,614,615,616,617],{"id":345,"depth":275,"text":346},{"id":375,"depth":275,"text":376,"children":604},[605,606,607],{"id":379,"depth":280,"text":380},{"id":390,"depth":280,"text":391},{"id":411,"depth":280,"text":412},{"id":423,"depth":275,"text":424,"children":609},[610,611,612,613],{"id":427,"depth":280,"text":428},{"id":437,"depth":280,"text":438},{"id":465,"depth":280,"text":466},{"id":472,"depth":280,"text":473},{"id":488,"depth":275,"text":489},{"id":546,"depth":275,"text":547},{"id":578,"depth":275,"text":579},{"id":592,"depth":275,"text":593},{"label":291,"href":619},"\u002F?example=LSD 06-32-048-07W5","Add a DLS and NTS legal land description locator to ArcGIS Pro. Search, batch convert, and map Canadian land descriptions without leaving Esri.",[296,297,622,623,624],"esri legal land description","arcgis nts search","arcgis pro township range section",{},[330,341,44,63],"how-to",{"title":317,"description":620},"learn\u002Fhow-to\u002Farcgis-pro-legal-land-description-locator",[310,311,312],"R6OkRDuFXKgHBS__pipV64RlOEGff2qNDstmaSjpkh4",{"id":633,"title":634,"body":635,"category":289,"createdAt":289,"cta":919,"description":922,"extension":293,"icon":289,"industry":923,"keywords":924,"meta":931,"navigation":302,"path":44,"province":932,"relatedPages":933,"section":306,"seo":935,"stem":936,"systems":937,"updatedAt":289,"__hash__":939},"learn\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Foil-and-gas.md","Legal Land Descriptions for Oil and Gas",{"type":7,"value":636,"toc":903},[637,640,643,646,650,653,659,667,671,675,678,685,695,701,705,708,720,724,731,738,742,746,753,767,774,778,781,794,798,801,804,808,825,836,842,848,858,862,865,868,875,879,887],[10,638,634],{"id":639},"legal-land-descriptions-for-oil-and-gas",[15,641,642],{},"Every well in western Canada has an address. Not a postal code or a civic number — a legal land description tied to the Dominion Land Survey grid. The Alberta Energy Regulator tracks over 672,000 wells, every one of them identified by a combination of Legal Subdivision, Section, Township, Range, and Meridian. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the BC Peace River region use the same system. If you work in oil and gas land administration, regulatory compliance, engineering, or field operations, legal land descriptions are part of daily work.",[15,644,645],{},"This page explains how the DLS system applies to oil and gas, which survey systems matter in which regions, and how Township Canada streamlines the conversion workflows that come up constantly in this industry.",[30,647,649],{"id":648},"why-legal-land-descriptions-matter-in-oil-and-gas","Why Legal Land Descriptions Matter in Oil and Gas",[15,651,652],{},"Regulatory bodies across western Canada use legal land descriptions as the authoritative location identifier for energy facilities. The AER in Alberta, the BC Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC), and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources all accept — and in most cases require — DLS references in licence applications, reports, and maps.",[15,654,655,656,658],{},"A legal land description is unambiguous in a way that an address or a verbal description is not. \"Near Drayton Valley\" could mean a dozen different townships. ",[110,657,174],{}," means exactly one 40-acre parcel, identifiable on every survey map and regulatory database in the province.",[15,660,661,662,666],{},"That precision matters when a well licence needs to clear a minimum distance spacing unit, when a pipeline route must avoid a licensed water source, or when a surface lease agreement needs a court-defensible boundary description. Surface lease applications are especially sensitive to location errors — a single transposed LSD digit in an AER filing can invalidate a signed agreement. See ",[42,663,665],{"href":664},"\u002Fblog\u002Fsurface-lease-legal-land-descriptions-aer-filings","Surface Lease Legal Land Descriptions: What Alberta Landmen Need to Know Before AER Filings"," for the common failure points and how to catch them before submission.",[30,668,670],{"id":669},"survey-systems-used-in-oil-and-gas","Survey Systems Used in Oil and Gas",[35,672,674],{"id":673},"dls-and-lsd","DLS and LSD",[15,676,677],{},"The Dominion Land Survey is the primary addressing system for oil and gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Within the DLS, the Legal Subdivision (LSD) provides the most precise level of location — a 40-acre parcel within a 640-acre section.",[15,679,680,681,684],{},"A standard oil and gas location reference looks like ",[110,682,683],{},"LSD 06-22-049-11W5",": Legal Subdivision 6, Section 22, Township 49, Range 11, West of the 5th Meridian. That puts the location northwest of Rocky Mountain House. The LSD number (1–16) identifies the 40-acre quarter of a quarter section, numbered from southeast to northwest.",[15,686,687,688,691,692,220],{},"Learn how the grid fits together at ",[42,689,690],{"href":330},"Understanding the DLS System"," and ",[42,693,694],{"href":334},"How LSDs Are Numbered",[696,697],"marketing-dls-grid-diagrams",{"highlighted-lsd":698,"highlighted-quarter":699,"highlighted-section":700},"14","NE","27",[35,702,704],{"id":703},"nts-in-british-columbia","NTS in British Columbia",[15,706,707],{},"BC operations east of the Rockies — Montney, Horn River, Liard Basin — often appear in both DLS (for the Peace River region) and NTS format. The BC Oil and Gas Commission accepts NTS grid references, particularly for exploration areas outside the established DLS grid.",[15,709,710,711,714,715,719],{},"An NTS reference like ",[110,712,713],{},"094B\u002F12-E"," identifies a map sheet (094B), grid block (12), and half-block (E). For field work in BC's northeast, knowing how to convert NTS references to GPS is as important as knowing the DLS system. See ",[42,716,718],{"href":717},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Fnts-to-gps-converter","NTS to GPS Converter"," for a full walkthrough.",[35,721,723],{"id":722},"the-unique-well-identifier-uwi","The Unique Well Identifier (UWI)",[15,725,726,727,730],{},"The UWI embeds the legal land description directly in the well name. A UWI like ",[19,728,729],{},"100\u002F14-27-048-05W5\u002F00"," breaks down as: event sequence prefix (100), LSD location (14-27-048-05W5), and event suffix (00). The location portion is the DLS address — pulling the GPS coordinates means converting that middle segment using the same method as any other LSD.",[15,732,733,734,737],{},"Some databases use a slash-delimited format; others compress it to ",[19,735,736],{},"10014270480500",". Township Canada parses both formats.",[30,739,741],{"id":740},"real-world-scenarios","Real-World Scenarios",[35,743,745],{"id":744},"scenario-1-well-licence-filing","Scenario 1: Well Licence Filing",[15,747,748,749,752],{},"A land administrator at a Calgary-based operator receives a new well licence application. The surface location is listed as ",[110,750,751],{},"LSD 09-15-062-20W5"," — a site in the Deep Basin gas area northwest of Grande Prairie. Before submitting to the AER, the team needs to:",[226,754,755,758,761,764],{},[229,756,757],{},"Confirm the LSD falls within the correct Crown land block",[229,759,760],{},"Verify minimum distance spacing from existing wellbores",[229,762,763],{},"Generate GPS coordinates for the drilling contractor's navigation system",[229,765,766],{},"Produce a location map for the licence package",[15,768,769,770,773],{},"Enter the LSD into ",[42,771,772],{"href":532},"Township Canada"," and the parcel appears on the survey grid with latitude and longitude. Export the point as KML and it loads directly into the mapping software used for the licence package. The whole process takes under two minutes.",[35,775,777],{"id":776},"scenario-2-pipeline-route-planning","Scenario 2: Pipeline Route Planning",[15,779,780],{},"A pipeline from Edson to Whitecourt covers roughly 80 kilometres and intersects dozens of sections across Ranges 14 through 19, W5M. The regulatory filing for the AER requires coordinates for every crossing point — roads, watercourses, and existing pipelines.",[15,782,783,784,788,789,793],{},"The engineering team pulls the route LSDs from the land system and uploads the complete list to the ",[42,785,787],{"href":786},"\u002Fapp\u002Fbatch","batch converter",". The result is a CSV with latitude and longitude for every point, plus a KML that loads the entire route into Google Earth for visual verification. See the ",[42,790,792],{"href":791},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Fbatch-convert-legal-land-descriptions","batch conversion guide"," for step-by-step instructions on preparing large location lists.",[35,795,797],{"id":796},"scenario-3-well-database-management","Scenario 3: Well Database Management",[15,799,800],{},"A production company acquires 140 wells from another operator. The acquisition data comes as a spreadsheet with UWIs in a legacy format — some valid, some with transposed digits, a few referencing ranges that don't exist at the given meridian.",[15,802,803],{},"Run the full list through batch conversion. The processing report flags every location that doesn't resolve to a valid parcel: the transposed township-range combination that places a well in an uninhabited tundra, the LSD that's outside the survey grid for that meridian, and the one where the range number was entered as letters instead of numbers. Clean the data before it goes into the production database rather than discovering the errors during an AER audit.",[30,805,807],{"id":806},"how-township-canada-handles-oil-and-gas-workflows","How Township Canada Handles Oil and Gas Workflows",[15,809,810,813,814,50,817,820,821,220],{},[110,811,812],{},"Single location lookup",": Enter any LSD in DLS format — ",[19,815,816],{},"14-27-048-05W5",[19,818,819],{},"NW 22-054-12W5",", or any other standard notation — and get GPS coordinates, a map view, and export options within seconds. Try the ",[42,822,824],{"href":823},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Fdls-to-gps-converter","DLS to GPS converter",[15,826,827,830,831,833,834,220],{},[110,828,829],{},"Batch processing",": Upload a CSV or paste a list of LSDs and convert hundreds or thousands of locations at once. Download results as CSV or KML. Available on the ",[42,832,543],{"href":542},". Try it at ",[42,835,786],{"href":786},[15,837,838,841],{},[110,839,840],{},"UWI parsing",": Paste a UWI in full format and Township Canada extracts the LSD portion automatically, returning the GPS location for the surface hole.",[15,843,844,847],{},[110,845,846],{},"Meridian verification",": Township Canada validates that the meridian and range combination is geographically possible before returning a result, catching the most common data entry errors.",[15,849,850,853,854,857],{},[110,851,852],{},"Snowflake integration",": If your well data lives in Snowflake, you can convert DLS locations to GPS coordinates directly in SQL — no exports or Python scripts needed. See ",[42,855,856],{"href":573},"how Snowflake DLS enrichment works"," for the full walkthrough.",[30,859,861],{"id":860},"the-meridian-the-most-common-source-of-errors","The Meridian — the Most Common Source of Errors",[15,863,864],{},"Getting the meridian wrong in an oil and gas context doesn't just produce an inaccurate map — it can put a field crew 250 kilometres from the actual wellsite. W5 is central Alberta; W4 is the Saskatchewan border. The same township-range-LSD combination at W4 instead of W5 produces a completely different location.",[15,866,867],{},"Always verify the meridian against the original source document. When working with legacy data, watch for records where the meridian was omitted or entered as a number without the W prefix. Township Canada requires the full meridian designation and will flag incomplete entries rather than guessing.",[15,869,870,871,220],{},"For a full explanation of how meridians divide the DLS grid, see ",[42,872,874],{"href":873},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Ftownship-range-meridian-explained","Township, Range, and Meridian Explained",[30,876,878],{"id":877},"try-it-with-a-real-well-location","Try It with a Real Well Location",[15,880,596,881,267,883,886],{},[110,882,816],{},[42,884,885],{"href":532},"Township Canada converter"," to see the result. That's a producing area parcel near Drayton Valley that appears in thousands of AER records. The converter returns the GPS coordinates, places the LSD on the survey grid, and shows surrounding parcels for context.",[15,888,889,890,894,895,897,898,900,901,220],{},"For individual LSD lookups, use the ",[42,891,893],{"href":892},"\u002Flearn\u002Fhow-to\u002Flsd-finder","LSD finder",". For section or quarter section searches, try the ",[42,896,824],{"href":823},". For bulk location files, the ",[42,899,787],{"href":786}," handles thousands of records on a ",[42,902,543],{"href":542},{"title":274,"searchDepth":275,"depth":275,"links":904},[905,906,911,916,917,918],{"id":648,"depth":275,"text":649},{"id":669,"depth":275,"text":670,"children":907},[908,909,910],{"id":673,"depth":280,"text":674},{"id":703,"depth":280,"text":704},{"id":722,"depth":280,"text":723},{"id":740,"depth":275,"text":741,"children":912},[913,914,915],{"id":744,"depth":280,"text":745},{"id":776,"depth":280,"text":777},{"id":796,"depth":280,"text":797},{"id":806,"depth":275,"text":807},{"id":860,"depth":275,"text":861},{"id":877,"depth":275,"text":878},{"label":920,"href":921},"Convert a well location now","\u002F?example=14-27-048-05W5","How oil and gas professionals use DLS, LSD, NTS, and UWI to identify well locations, plan pipeline routes, and meet AER filing requirements across western Canada.","oil-and-gas",[925,926,927,928,929,930],"oil and gas legal land description","well licence location","AER filing coordinates","UWI lookup","lsd to gps oil and gas","pipeline route legal land description",{},"alberta",[330,334,934,823],"\u002Flearn\u002Fprovinces\u002Falberta",{"title":634,"description":922},"learn\u002Findustries\u002Foil-and-gas",[310,312,311,938],"UWI","nGrLsZ2eawdDTZX4--NWJNOH3DZp1mbMQHoc8W4ppII",{"id":941,"title":942,"body":943,"category":289,"createdAt":289,"cta":1183,"description":1186,"extension":293,"icon":289,"industry":397,"keywords":1187,"meta":1194,"navigation":302,"path":63,"province":932,"relatedPages":1195,"section":306,"seo":1196,"stem":1197,"systems":1198,"updatedAt":289,"__hash__":1200},"learn\u002Flearn\u002Findustries\u002Fsurveying.md","Legal Land Descriptions for Surveying & Geomatics",{"type":7,"value":944,"toc":1167},[945,949,952,955,959,962,965,969,973,980,983,989,993,997,1000,1007,1012,1016,1019,1021,1025,1035,1049,1055,1059,1062,1072,1075,1079,1086,1089,1093,1102,1113,1122,1131,1135,1138,1141,1145,1153],[10,946,948],{"id":947},"legal-land-descriptions-for-surveying-and-geomatics","Legal Land Descriptions for Surveying and Geomatics",[15,950,951],{},"Land surveyors in western Canada work at the intersection of two coordinate systems every day: the legal survey fabric — the Dominion Land Survey, the National Topographic System, and the Federal Plan Survey system — and the GPS coordinate framework that field instruments and digital deliverables rely on. Converting accurately between them is not optional. A boundary retracement that misidentifies a section corner by ten metres can invalidate a subdivision plan. A monument recovery that searches the wrong quarter section wastes a full field day.",[15,953,954],{},"This page covers how surveyors and geomatics professionals use legal land descriptions in practice and how Township Canada fits into field preparation, office processing, and client deliverables.",[30,956,958],{"id":957},"why-legal-land-descriptions-matter-in-surveying","Why Legal Land Descriptions Matter in Surveying",[15,960,961],{},"The cadastral fabric of western Canada is the DLS grid. Every Alberta Land Title, every Saskatchewan certificate of title, and every BC general plan references survey monuments, section corners, and quarter section lines that were established by original DLS surveys conducted from the 1870s onward.",[15,963,964],{},"Even when modern surveys use GPS control and produce coordinates in NAD83 or ITRF, the legal boundary being surveyed was established under the DLS. Section corners, quarter posts, and legal subdivision corners are the physical monuments that define where the law says the boundaries are. Identifying those monuments — their planned DLS location and their GPS position — is foundational to any cadastral survey in the prairie provinces.",[30,966,968],{"id":967},"survey-systems-used-in-surveying-and-geomatics","Survey Systems Used in Surveying and Geomatics",[35,970,972],{"id":971},"dls-the-cadastral-fabric","DLS — The Cadastral Fabric",[15,974,975,976,979],{},"The Dominion Land Survey defines the legal boundaries for virtually all rural land in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. A surveyor preparing a boundary retracement for a rural property near Camrose, Alberta is working with section lines and quarter posts that were first established under DLS surveys in the late 1800s. The legal description ",[110,977,978],{},"SE 14-052-09W5"," — Southeast quarter, Section 14, Township 52, Range 9, West of the 5th Meridian — identifies the parcel and its bounding monuments precisely.",[15,981,982],{},"DLS surveys established a hierarchy of monuments: township corners (iron pins at section corners every mile), quarter posts (at the mid-points of section boundaries), and legal subdivision posts (at the corners of the 40-acre LSDs within each section). Modern cadastral surveys retracing original DLS work must first identify what was set, find the monuments in the field, and then apply the statutory rules for lost monument recovery before anything else can be computed.",[15,984,985,986,988],{},"See ",[42,987,690],{"href":330}," for the complete structure.",[696,990],{"highlighted-lsd":991,"highlighted-quarter":992,"highlighted-section":698},"10","SE",[35,994,996],{"id":995},"nts-northern-and-remote-work","NTS — Northern and Remote Work",[15,998,999],{},"North of the DLS survey limit — roughly Township 126 in Alberta, and large portions of northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba — the National Topographic System becomes the primary geographic reference. NTS grid references appear in Crown land dispositions, mineral tenure, and resource permits across northern Canada.",[15,1001,1002,1003,1006],{},"A geomatics project in the Northwest Territories or northern BC might reference locations entirely in NTS notation: ",[110,1004,1005],{},"095A\u002F04-C"," identifies a specific 1:50,000 map block and grid cell. Converting NTS references to GPS coordinates for field navigation and deliverable georeferencing is a daily task for surveyors working in northern regions.",[15,1008,985,1009,1011],{},[42,1010,718],{"href":717}," for conversion methodology.",[35,1013,1015],{"id":1014},"fps-federal-plan-survey-system","FPS — Federal Plan Survey System",[15,1017,1018],{},"Federal public lands, national parks, and certain Crown land dispositions in Canada use the Federal Plan Survey (FPS) system, which predates GPS and establishes reference monuments tied to the Canada Lands Survey System. Surveyors working in national parks or on federal Crown land need to understand how FPS plan numbers relate to physical monuments on the ground.",[30,1020,741],{"id":740},[35,1022,1024],{"id":1023},"scenario-1-cadastral-survey-planning","Scenario 1: Cadastral Survey Planning",[15,1026,1027,1028,691,1031,1034],{},"A surveying firm in Edmonton receives a commission to resurvey the boundary between ",[110,1029,1030],{},"NE 06-054-22W5",[110,1032,1033],{},"NW 06-054-22W5"," — two adjoining quarter sections in the Edson area where a fence line dispute has arisen. Before the field crew heads out, the office needs to:",[226,1036,1037,1040,1043,1046],{},[229,1038,1039],{},"Locate the planned position of the quarter post between the two parcels",[229,1041,1042],{},"Determine the GPS coordinates for that monument's planned position",[229,1044,1045],{},"Identify the surrounding section corners that will serve as control for the retracement",[229,1047,1048],{},"Generate a field navigation file for the instrument operator",[15,1050,1051,1052,1054],{},"Enter the legal land descriptions into ",[42,1053,772],{"href":532}," to get the GPS positions for the planned monument locations. The parcel map shows the surrounding section corner positions that the field crew will use to establish control before searching for the disputed quarter post. Export the points as KML for the data collector.",[35,1056,1058],{"id":1057},"scenario-2-monument-recovery","Scenario 2: Monument Recovery",[15,1060,1061],{},"A survey technician is searching for a lost section corner at the intersection of Sections 22, 23, 26, and 27, Township 49, Range 17, W5M in the Rocky Mountain foothills. The original monument is a wooden post set in 1908 that is almost certainly buried under decades of soil accumulation and vegetation growth.",[15,1063,1064,1065,1068,1069,1071],{},"The planned position of that corner is calculated from the original DLS field notes archived at Natural Resources Canada. Convert the legal description of the corner — ",[110,1066,1067],{},"Section corner at NW-27, NE-26, SW-23, SE-22, Twp 49, Rge 17, W5M"," — to GPS coordinates using ",[42,1070,772],{"href":532}," and load the point into the total station or GNSS receiver. The field technician navigates to within two metres of the planned position and begins probing.",[15,1073,1074],{},"The planned position won't be the actual position (original surveys had tolerances of chains, not metres), but it gets the crew to the right search area, which is the difference between finding the monument in 20 minutes and spending half a day searching the wrong location.",[35,1076,1078],{"id":1077},"scenario-3-boundary-retracement-for-subdivision","Scenario 3: Boundary Retracement for Subdivision",[15,1080,1081,1082,1085],{},"A land developer wants to subdivide ",[110,1083,1084],{},"SW 33-044-03W5"," near Rocky Mountain House into five rural residential lots. Before the subdivision plan can be filed with the Alberta Land Titles Office, a Alberta Land Surveyor (ALS) must retraced the external boundaries of the quarter section, locate or re-establish all boundary monuments, and produce a plan showing the proposed lots in relation to the legal boundary.",[15,1087,1088],{},"The surveyor starts by converting the quarter section to GPS to identify the approximate positions of all four corner monuments and the two boundary midpoints. Field reconnaissance using those planned positions confirms the access route, identifies potential monument locations, and lets the crew plan the observation sequence before committing the full crew to the site.",[30,1090,1092],{"id":1091},"how-township-canada-handles-surveying-workflows","How Township Canada Handles Surveying Workflows",[15,1094,1095,1098,1099,1101],{},[110,1096,1097],{},"Monument position planning",": Convert any DLS legal description — section corner, quarter post, or LSD corner — to GPS coordinates for field navigation and pre-survey planning. The ",[42,1100,824],{"href":823}," handles any standard notation.",[15,1103,1104,1107,1108,1110,1111,220],{},[110,1105,1106],{},"Batch position generation",": For large boundary retracings covering multiple sections, convert all planned monument positions in one batch operation. Upload a list of section and quarter identifiers and download GPS coordinates for every point. Use ",[42,1109,786],{"href":786}," on a ",[42,1112,543],{"href":542},[15,1114,1115,1118,1119,220],{},[110,1116,1117],{},"NTS to GPS for northern projects",": Convert NTS grid references to GPS for field navigation and georeferencing deliverables. See the ",[42,1120,1121],{"href":717},"NTS to GPS converter",[15,1123,1124,1127,1128,1130],{},[110,1125,1126],{},"LSD corner positions",": When survey work involves LSD-level boundaries — which appear in subdivision plans and surface lease surveys — use the ",[42,1129,893],{"href":892}," to get corner coordinates for any 40-acre parcel.",[30,1132,1134],{"id":1133},"accuracy-and-legal-positions","Accuracy and Legal Positions",[15,1136,1137],{},"Township Canada returns the planned theoretical position of DLS monuments — the position calculated from the original survey design, assuming perfect geometry. Actual monument positions will differ due to original survey tolerances, ground settlement, and decades of environmental change.",[15,1139,1140],{},"For cadastral survey purposes, the coordinates from Township Canada are planning and navigation coordinates, not legal positions. Legal positions come from the survey evidence recovered in the field and the statutory rules applied under the applicable Surveys Act. That said, planned positions accurate to within a few metres are exactly what a crew needs to conduct an efficient field search.",[30,1142,1144],{"id":1143},"try-it-with-a-survey-location","Try It with a Survey Location",[15,1146,596,1147,267,1150,1152],{},[110,1148,1149],{},"SE-14-052-09W5",[42,1151,885],{"href":532}," to see a typical cadastral survey reference location in the Alberta foothills region. The result shows the parcel on the survey grid with GPS coordinates for the centre and corners.",[15,1154,1155,1156,1158,1159,1161,1162,1164,1165,220],{},"For individual parcel lookups, use the ",[42,1157,824],{"href":823},". For NTS references in northern projects, try the ",[42,1160,1121],{"href":717},". For large-scale monument position planning across many sections, the ",[42,1163,787],{"href":786}," is available on a ",[42,1166,543],{"href":542},{"title":274,"searchDepth":275,"depth":275,"links":1168},[1169,1170,1175,1180,1181,1182],{"id":957,"depth":275,"text":958},{"id":967,"depth":275,"text":968,"children":1171},[1172,1173,1174],{"id":971,"depth":280,"text":972},{"id":995,"depth":280,"text":996},{"id":1014,"depth":280,"text":1015},{"id":740,"depth":275,"text":741,"children":1176},[1177,1178,1179],{"id":1023,"depth":280,"text":1024},{"id":1057,"depth":280,"text":1058},{"id":1077,"depth":280,"text":1078},{"id":1091,"depth":275,"text":1092},{"id":1133,"depth":275,"text":1134},{"id":1143,"depth":275,"text":1144},{"label":1184,"href":1185},"Convert a survey location","\u002F?example=SE-14-052-09W5","How land surveyors and geomatics professionals use DLS, LSD, NTS, and FPS survey systems for cadastral surveys, monument recovery, and boundary retracement across western Canada.",[1188,1189,1190,1191,1192,1193],"surveying legal land description","geomatics DLS","cadastral survey","land surveyor coordinates","monument recovery DLS","boundary retracement legal land description",{},[330,341,934,823],{"title":942,"description":1186},"learn\u002Findustries\u002Fsurveying",[310,312,311,1199],"FPS","qYMh6IdXbi10ew5bNSvN20gdV3DtB-Amti2OSdGci4c"]