During the reform process, the Department expects to allocate more than 400 cadastral renewal contracts to roughly 600 private sector land surveyors in Québec. The first contracts were allocated in September 1994.

A cadastral renewal contract usually involves three separate mandates (one per renewal sector), but may involve less. The average duration of a mandate is two years, and the average duration of a contract is slightly over four years.

How does the land surveyor prepare the new cadastral plan?

Step 1: The land surveyor gathers information

• from existing cadastral plans and other documents in the Department archives
• from titles of ownership registered in registry offices
• from copies of documents submitted by property owners

The land surveyor may also measure the dimensions of the property on the ground to complete the survey.

Step 2: The land surveyor prepares a new cadastral plan by

• integrating lots with no changes, if they are already correctly represented
• correcting inaccuracies, where lots are incorrectly represented
• creating new lots for parcels of land that are not currently represented on the cadastral plan
• grouping together any lots and parts of lots that make up a single property

If the properties are identified correctly in the cadastre, the surveyor incorporates them in the new plan and allocates a lot number (see box). Otherwise, he or she rectifies the mistakes, allocates a new lot number and then transfers the renewed lot onto the new plan.

Step 3: The land surveyor meets with property owners

During the public meeting that all property owners are invited to attend, the land surveyor records the comments made by individual owners concerning the way their property is shown on the cadastral plan.

Step 4: The land surveyor updates the new cadastral plan before it becomes official

The new plan is updated to reflect the comments made by property owners, and any recent transactions. At this point, the Department makes the new cadastral plan official.