What is the practice of land surveying?

The Land Surveyors Act of Alberta grants an exclusive scope of practice to Alberta Land Surveyors to practice land surveying. Alberta Land Surveyors have been granted this right because of the technical, legal and historical knowledge required to determine boundaries and the importance the public places on the integrity of property boundaries and the peaceful enjoyment of the land.

More specifically, the Act states that the "practice of land surveying" means

1. the survey of land to determine or establish boundaries;
2. the survey of land to determine or establish the boundaries of any right or interest in land or in air space;
3. the survey of air space to determine or establish boundaries;
4. the survey of land to determine the location of anything relative to a boundary for the purpose of certifying the location of the thing;
5. the survey of lakes, rivers or watercourses to establish or determine their boundaries;
6. the survey by any means, including photogrammetric, electronic or astronomic methods, of land, water or air space for the purpose of preparing maps, plans and documents connected in
7. any way with the establishment or determination of boundaries delineating any right or interest in land, water or air space;
8. cadastral operations and compiling and recording information related to the matters specified in
9. subclauses (i) to (vi);
10. establishing and maintaining a network of geodetic points of any order of precision and establishing photogrammetric controls for the purposes of the work specified in subclauses (i) to (v), including the preparation of maps, plans and documents and the giving of advice with respect to any of the matters specified in this clause;