Québec's cadastre, of European inspiration, is unique in North America. It was established between 1866 and 1896 for fiscal reasons, and consisted in a Government register originally comprising approximately 1,450 plans containing graphical representation and official descriptions of most of the properties of the time. It was also used to record immovable property transactions and register the 700,000 or so immovables within the territory of Québec. Over the years, it has also served to establish property taxes, and has been used for urban planning, public utility and network management purposes, as well as for the application of various laws and regulations.

Today, Québec has approximately 3,500,000 properties, and yet its cadastre remains unchanged. The original 700,000 lots are represented by the same 1,450 plans from the 19^th century, and there are large numbers of registration anomalies. Subsequent subdivisions, when they were registered, were shown on 350,000 parcel plans and were never transferred to a overall plan. Approximately 850,000 immovables have no specific number, in part because owners sometimes subdivided their properties without registering the change. As a result, the cadastre as it currently stands is no longer able to play its role as a central register of all properties in Québec and their related rights. As the 21^st century approached, the situation had become a headache for owners wishing to construct or renovate buildings, sell properties or carry out property transactions.

In 1992, the gouvernement du Québec therefore decided to renew the cadastre, so that it would provide an accurate depiction of the province's land subdivisions and become a complete, reliable, computer-based and constantly updated land registration tool.