Rethinking the Cadastre
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Cadastral Plan
On May 6, 1992, the gouvernement du Québec
asked the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune
to implement the Québec Cadastre Reform Program. The
goal of the program was to update Québec's cadastre by providing
an accurate computer-based depiction of the 3.5 million private
properties within the territory of the province.
For such an ambitious program to be successful,
it was necessary to rethink Québec's entire cadastral system
from the legal, technical, methodological and financial standpoints.
The Department also had to set up a georeference information system
to manage the cadastral data, including implementation of a whole
series of mostly automatic quality control measures. These measures
were found to be the most cost-effective way of ensuring the consistency
and integrity of the cadastral data. Because the new cadastral plan
is computer-based, the Department can also circulate cadastral data
via the Internet.
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Did you know that …
Québec has approximately 7.4 million
inhabitants scattered over a territory measuring 1.7 million
km². The most densely populated regions
are located in the southernmost portion of the territory,
along the fleuve Saint-Laurent. As a comparison, more than
59 million people live in France, which is only one-third
of the size of Québec!
Sources: Statistics Canada
Institut national d'études démographiques (Paris) |
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Duplicate versions
Since the reform process began, all cadastral
plans in renewed areas are produced in duplicate - i.e. in
computer form and on paper. However, under the Cadastre
Act, the computer-based version has priority where there
is a difference between the two versions. Also, if one of
the versions is lost or damaged, the other version can be
used to reconstitute it.
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The cadastral reform process is based on a combination
of public and private sector expertise in the geomatics and cadastral
fields, and will provide Québec with a complete, reliable,
computer-based and constantly updated cadastral map.
The Goals of the Reform Program
- To build up a complete and accurate picture of land subdivisions
in Québec, which will become the property depiction mechanism
for the entire immovable rights publication process;
- To ensure that the cadastre is updated constantly, so that every
new subdivision is identified on the cadastre before being published;
- To transform the cadastre into a versatile tool that can be
used in conjunction with other theme-based maps (e.g. administrative
region boundaries, electoral division and municipal boundaries,
topography, land valuation, public utility networks, etc.).
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Who is paying
for the reform?
The gouvernement du Québec has set up a
special fund to finance the cadastral reform program.
The revenues paid into the fund are directly proportional
to the level of activity on the property market. Among other
things, they include amounts collected when registering property
transactions and the sale of cadastral products.
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The Contribution of Geomatics
Cadastral renewal work began in 1994, and by the
end of the reform process in 2011, Québec's cadastre will
comprise approximately four million spatially connected lots. Geomatics
expertise has become an essential element in optimizing these connections,
a task that involves both descriptive (name of owner, deed of acquisition,
etc.) and geometric data (segments and annotations). Thanks to the
power of computers and the development of local data management
software, it is now possible for the gouvernement du Québec, the
municipalities and all other users of the cadastre to manage significant
volumes of cadastral georeference data by means of geomatics applications.
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Did you know that …
Geomatics is a sector of science and technology
that is concerned with the acquisition, production, management
and distribution of information attached to geographic coordinates
(georeferencing)? The discipline covers a whole set of applications
including geodesy, the cadastre, surveying, photogrammetry,
mapping, remote sensing and georeference databases.
Source: Industrie et Commerce Québec
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The Department has created four information
systems to ensure effective planning, contract management, product
quality control, special fund administration and data processing
and dissemination:
1. The Cadastre Renewal Management System
Purpose: To establish, allocate and monitor
contracts.
Functions :
- Importing cartographical data from administrative boundary maps,
topographical maps, cadastral compilations, municipal assessment
rolls, etc.;
- Editing and making the best possible use of cartographical data
for programming and monitoring purposes;
- Controlling the quality of inputs from land surveying firms.
2. The Cadastre Data Management System
Purpose: To manage Québec's cadastral
database.
Functions:
- Controlling the quality of data gathered during renewal contracts
and other ongoing cadastral operations;
- Incorporating new cadastral data into the official databank;
- Verifying the integrity of descriptive data (using Oracle software)
and geometric data (using Arc/Info software) relating to lots.
3. The Fund Management System
Purpose: To administer financial resources.
Function:
- Managing revenues, expenditures and budgets for the special
fund set up to finance the reform program, using Oracle financial
software.
4. The Cadastral Information Internet Distribution
Management System
Purpose: To manage the distribution and
exchange of data via the Internet.
Functions:
- Automating data distribution and exchange;
- Online consultations of Québec's cadastral plan;
- E-commerce.
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A System at the
Service of the General Public
The Cadastre Information Internet Distribution
Management System was developed by the Department to
facilitate exchanges of information and data with its clients.
The system is fully automatic and makes use of Internet and
e-mail functions. It allows users to obtain cadastral information,
products and services without human intervention.
Benefits of the system:
- Online
consultations of the updated version of Québec's
Cadastral Plan (available in french);
- Automatic extraction of descriptive and geometric data
from the cadastral database;
- Automatic screening¹ of files created
during cadastral operations (service reserved for land surveyors);
- Transmission of files created during cadastral operations
prior to officialization (service reserved for land surveyors);
- Automatic distribution of general cadastral plan information
updates to the municipalities concerned;
- Updated information on cadastral renewal progress in each
locality;
- Better access to services (instant access or maximum 24
hour response time);
- Significant reduction of travel;
- Secure e-commerce.
¹File screening serves
to:
File data are subjected to more than
400 screening tests. At the end of the screening process,
a report is sent to the applicant land surveyor stating whether
or not the files submitted are in compliance and, if not,
on the reasons for rejection.
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Sharing Skills
The Québec-based companies and firms involved
in the cadastral reform process have acquired highly specialized
skills that can easily be transferred to other contexts, both in
Canada and abroad. Thanks to its skills and achievements in cadastral
geomatics, Québec is now in great demand as a partner for
countries wishing to develop their own knowledge in these fields.
In the last few years, the Department has had the honour of welcoming
several foreign delegations with a keen interest in Québec's
unique cadastral model, which is a product of close cooperation
between the public and private sectors.
See also
Spotlight on the Cadastral
Reform
Infolot(available
in french)
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