A surveyor’s corporation that intends to engage in the practice of land surveying must have a permit to practice issued by the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association.
Council will approve a permit to practice to a corporation if the corporation meets the criteria listed below. The criteria varies depending on whether the corporation currently holds an APEGA permit to practice or not.
Council will approve a permit to practice to a corporation that does not currently hold an APEGA permit to practice if:
• its corporate name or the name under which the corporation proposes to engage in the practice of surveying, or both, is appropriate [See “what is an appropriate name?”],
• the ownership of the majority of its voting shares is vested in one or more Canadian land surveyors, or in a corporation or corporations the majority of whose voting shares are vested in one or more Canadian land surveyors,
• a majority of its directors are Canadian land surveyors, unless there are only 2 directors in which case one of them shall be a Canadian land surveyor, and
• it has one or more full time permanent employees who are Alberta land surveyors and who:
o are qualified by training and experience in the fields of surveying in which the corporation intends to engage or offer to engage, and
o will assume personal supervision, direction and control of the practice of surveying in which the corporation engages.
Council will approve a permit to practice to a corporation that currently holds an APEGA permit to practice if:
• its corporate name or the name under which the corporation proposes to engage in the practice of surveying and the practice of engineering is appropriate [See “what is an appropriate name?”],
• the ownership of the majority of its voting shares is vested in one or more Canadian land surveyors and one or more professional engineers, or in a corporation or corporations the majority of whose voting shares are vested in one or more Canadian land surveyors or one or more professional engineers, and the voting shares are distributed to the Canadian land surveyors, or their corporations, and the professional engineers, or their corporations, on a basis which will bear a reasonable relationship to the distribution of the practice of the corporation as between the practice of engineering and any surveying that is under the control of a land surveyor, but
o Canadian land surveyors or their corporations shall hold at least 10% of the voting shares and professional engineers or their corporations shall hold at least a further 10% of the voting shares of the corporation, and
o if the Council is not satisfied as to the distribution of the voting shares between the Canadian land surveyors or their corporations and the professional engineers or their corporations it shall refer the matter to a committee composed of Canadian land surveyors and professional engineers for a decision by that committee,
• a majority of the directors of the corporation are Canadian land surveyors and professional engineers,
• it holds a valid permit from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta to engage in the practice of engineering, and
• it has one or more full time permanent employees who are Alberta land surveyors and who are qualified by training and experience in the fields of land surveying in which the corporation intends to engage or offer to engage, and will assume personal supervision, direction and control of the practice of land surveying in which the corporation engages.
The application to register a head or branch office of a surveyor's corporation can be completed online and then has to be printed for signing. The completed application form should be emailed to the ALSA office.
The application to register a surveyor's partnership is provided as a PDF form which must be printed for completion. The completed application form should be emailed to the ALSA office.
The completed application is reviewed by the Registrar and then provided to Council for approval. Once approval of the application has been granted the applicant will be provided with a letter detailing what items are required to finalize registration of the surveyor's corporation. Upon receipt of the required submissions the registration will be finalized and the applicant will be notified by email of the registration date and permit number for the new surveyor's corporation or surveyor's partnership.
Once Council approves the application for registration as a surveyor’s corporation, the applicant will be required to pay the following fees (plus GST):
Application Fee $550.00
Registration Fee $250.00
Corporate Fees for 2023/2024 Term $1,100.00
The applicant will also be required to:
• Provide a digital permit stamp sample in pdf format for approval by the Registrar
• Provide proof of professional liability insurance coverage
• If a rubber permit stamp is required, contact the ALSA office to order one. The cost is $55.00 plus GST.
Once a corporation has a permit to practice from the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association, it must:
• Submit a corporate renewal to the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association no later than January 31 each year [See Annual Renewal of Permit to Practice];
• Pay the annual corporation dues no later than April 30 each year;
• Notify the ALSA immediately of any changes in contact information (ie: mailing address, email address);
• Notify the ALSA immediately if an Alberta Land Surveyor leaves the employ of the surveyor’s corporation or ceases to take responsibility for a head or branch office.