FAQs – Membership

Why should I be a member of PSC?

• The profession is facing numerous challenges as land administration and management systems are undergoing significant changes in Canada and abroad. These changes include the rapid advance of location-based technology, implementation of on-line systems and an evolving public scrutiny of experts in all professions. By being a member of PSC, you add your voice to the collective of professional land surveyors to ensure that we are heard and our role in land management is understood.
• As an independent professional or as a representative of your Province’s regulatory association, there can be potential or perceived conflicts of interest when advocating for the benefit of the public at large. As a arms length advocacy body PSC is your channel to fulfill your ethical and legislated responsibility to protect the public and the integrity of the Canadian cadastre.

Why is it important for PSC to do advocacy work?

• The land surveying profession needs a strong voice to promote the effective and sustainable management of our national survey and registry systems in the best interest of the public. This requires clear communication to all levels of government the role and responsibility that the land survey profession has under legislation to maintain an effective and publicly accessible survey infrastructure, and to deliver authoritative survey information and products to the public.
• Professional surveyors have a unique knowledge base and experience set that allows us to detect and prevent legislative changes that will have a detrimental affect on the public at large. In many cases we are the only advocacy group that is available to advocate against such measures, or to advocate for changes to existing laws or policies that are harmful to the public.
• As most professions have noted, advocacy communications are best conducted at arms length from our legislated professional bodies, whose principal role is to regulate the profession and practice of land surveying. In this respect, PSC has no formal connection to any of the legislated professional regulatory bodies in Canada and is well suited to this role. Rather, PSC is a not-for-profit association representing individual land surveyors across Canada and was created to raise awareness across government and the public, of the fundamental importance of Canada’s survey systems and land survey profession to protecting property rights and ensuring effective land administration.

What happens if a licensing body moves away from the All-In model?

You can maintain your membership as an individual by purchasing your membership directly through the PSC website. Every association has the choice as to whether they wish to be apart of the All-In membership model. Provinces that maintain membership in an All In model, benefit from a reduced ‘per member’ rate.

What about the Cayton report? Will we have to separate our association from PSC?

Nothing in the report states that there needs to be full separation of licencing bodies and advocacy groups, and the report dealt with a broad spectrum of the health care industry, not specific professions. If an association or PSC was actively working in its own interest, then there may be an issue. I cannot speak for each of the associations, but everything that PSC has done has been in the public interest.

What has PSC accomplished so far?

• PSC actively advocated for additions to Bill S-229 – the Underground Safety Enhancement Act. Although this act died on the Senate table, our work allowed PSC to make connections with dozens of legislators and to promote our published positions on underground infrastructure surveying and mapping. A full position paper regarding Underground Infrastructure in Canada has also been developed and published.
• PSC actively advocated for two changes to Bill C-69. The change for ground disturbance depth standard was adopted by the Senate Committee reviewing proposed amendments but did not make it past the full Senate vote. The second change to requirements for prescribed areas was not directly adopted in the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, but is currently being implemented through a change to the definition of Prescribed Area in the Act’s regulations, limiting the prescribed area to a utilities surveyed right-of-way. This protects landowners from encumbrances to their land that they were not notified of nor compensated for.
• PSC has created three whiteboard videos showing the importance of a land surveyor in the home buying process and the subdivision process, as well as a title insurance and property survey video. Three additional videos have been made illustrating the three main positions of PSC regarding underground infrastructure. These videos are designed to catch the attention of the general public and to be a useful resource for decades to come.
• Since 2018, PSC’s online advertising campaigns have led more than 50,000 unique users to our website, who spent at least one minute viewing our content.
• PSC has participated in the public consultation process for review of CSA Standard S250 – Mapping of Underground Utility Infrastructure, provided our position to CSA in multiple formats and published our positions to our website.
• PSC is a member of and participating in the Board or subcommittees of the Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA), Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), and International Land Measurement Standard (ILMS). We have also entered into MOU’s with sister organizations – National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) USA, Asociación Española de Geómetras-Expertos (AEGEX) Spain and Consulting Surveyors National (CSN) Australia. These connections will allow PSC to keep ahead of global trends and to apply solutions used by others to issues encountered by the Canadian professional surveying industry.
• PSC has worked with all provincial regulatory associations to come together with one national recognizable brand – P. Surv. The P. Surv. designation is a vital tool for public recognition, and public advocacy and protection.
• PSC has reinvented itself as the authority for consultation on matters of mapping, measurement, title, and boundaries. PSC now receives unsolicited requests for information and consultation that were not received five years ago.
• The PSC website was redeveloped to be mobile friendly. 70% of website traffic is from mobile devices.
• PSC facilitated the Evolving Boundaries of Practice workshop and report in 2019.
• PSC is now a soliciting corporation and is eligible to receive federal grants for our initiatives, such as the aforementioned Evolving Boundaries of Practice workshop and report.
• PSC continues to offer the only professional liability insurance program for surveyors, by surveyors, and the only program with lifetime retirement insurance. This program has been strengthened and made more competitive through the efforts of PSC’s Professional Liability Insurance Committee. Actuarial studies are conducted on a regular basis to ensure the strength and affordability of this program.

Membership in PSC makes a powerful statement about your commitment to furthering the public’s knowledge of the surveying profession, protecting the public’s interests in land, and inspiring public confidence in the legal surveying profession.