Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Chapter C3 ver. 2

Surveys in Yukon

Table of Contents

Effective Date

This Chapter is effective August 1, 2006. It replaces Chapter C3 as published April 1, 2004 in the General Instructions for Surveys of Canada Lands, e-Edition.

Chapter Sections

General

  1. The provisions of this Chapter apply to Canada Lands and Titled Lands in Yukon. Canada Lands include Federal Lands, Yukon Lands and Settlement Lands. Federal Lands and Yukon Lands are public real property as defined in the Yukon Act and belong to her Majesty in right of Canada.
  2. As of April 1, 2003, and the coming into force of the Yukon Act, the administration and control of most federal public lands, the resources on those lands and the rights in respect of waters were transferred to the Commissioner of Yukon. The Northern Affairs Program Devolution Transfer Agreement sets out the terms of the transfer.
  3. Federal Lands for the purpose of this Chapter are lands under the administration and control of a Minister of the federal government.
  4. Yukon Lands for the purpose of this Chapter are lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon. Yukon Lands include territorial lands as defined in the Territorial Lands (Yukon) Act that were transferred by the Yukon Act, and Yukon lands as defined in the Lands Act (Yukon) that were previously known as Commissioner's Lands.
  5. Titled Lands for the purpose of this Chapter are lands for which a certificate of title has been issued under the Land Titles Act, repealed, 1999 (Canada), Land Titles Act (Yukon) or the Condominium Act (Yukon).
  6. Settlement Lands for the purpose of this Chapter are lands identified as settlement lands of a Yukon First Nation under the terms of land claims settlement legislation.

Creation and Alienation

Federal Lands
  1. Federal Lands can be created or alienated by transferring administration and control between federal and territorial governments under provisions of the Yukon Act.
  2. Lands can be removed from Federal Lands by the federal government transferring ownership or administration and control.
Yukon Lands
  1. Yukon Lands can be created or alienated by transferring administration and control between federal and territorial governments under provisions of the Yukon Act.
  2. Lands can be removed from Yukon Lands by the Commissioner transferring ownership or administration and control.
  3. Notification by the Governor in Council for the alienation of Yukon Lands is not issued until a plan of survey thereof has been confirmed by the Surveyor General, or a person designated by the Surveyor General to confirm such plans, and filed or registered in the Land Titles Office.
  4. Every application for a disposition of Yukon Lands requires a description based on:
    1. for surveyed land, a legal survey plan; or
    2. for unsurveyed land, a monument, a NAD83 coordinate or conspicuous physical feature.
Titled Lands
  1. Titled Lands can be created by a notification from the Commissioner or grant from the federal government. Once titled, lands can be transferred pursuant to the Land Titles Act (Yukon), but will remain Titled Lands.
  2. Subject to paragraph 15, certificates of title are not issued until an official plan of survey, prepared under the Canada Lands Surveys Act, has been filed in the Land Titles Office. Some titles created prior to the adoption of the Territorial Lands Regulations in 1960 were based on written land descriptions.
  3. A certificate of title may be issued without the benefit of a legal survey when the purpose of the registration is for a public utility easement for the pipeline referred to in the Northern Pipeline Act.
Settlement Lands

16. Settlement Lands are created by transfer to Yukon First Nations through land claims settlement legislation. Settlement Lands may be alienated in accordance with the legislation as listed in Schedule C3-1.

Administration of Surface Rights

Federal Lands

17. Federal Lands are administrated by various federal government departments. Orders in Council PC 2003-397 and PC 2003-1986 lists these parcels of Federal Lands and the administering departments. (last updated December 31, 2005)

Yukon Lands

18. The Lands Branch of the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources provides the survey authority for new Yukon land dispositions and maintains records of transactions affecting Yukon Lands. The Community Development Branch of the territorial Department of Community Services is responsible for subdivision approvals.

Titled Lands

19. Titled Lands are regulated and administered under the Land Titles Act (Yukon) by the territorial Department of Justice. Official records of land titles may be obtained from the Land Titles Office in Whitehorse.

Settlement Lands

20. Settlement Lands are administered by Yukon First Nations in accordance with enabling land claims settlement legislation. Subject to its Settlement Agreement, each Yukon First Nation, as owner of Settlement Lands, may enact laws and regulations for the use of and occupation of its Settlement Lands, and may establish a system to record interests on such lands. Yukon First Nations responsible for the administration of Settlement Lands and the enabling legislation are listed in Schedule C3-1.

Administration of Subsurface Rights

  1. As of November 19, 1998, and the coming into force of the Canada-Yukon Oil and Gas Accord Implementation Act, the administration and control of oil and gas resources in public lands and the adjoining area as defined in the Yukon Act were transferred to the Commissioner of Yukon.
  2. Rights to oil and gas in Yukon and the adjoining area are administered by the Oil and Gas Management Branch of the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources under the Oil and Gas Act (Yukon) and related regulations. Copies of licences and other documents pertaining to oil and gas in Yukon are available from this Branch in Whitehorse.
  3. The Oil and Gas Management Branch is also responsible for all oil and gas exploratory and development activities, such as drilling and seismic programs.
  4. Mineral Resources Branch of the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources administers mineral rights that are under the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon in accordance with the Placer Mining Act (Yukon) and the Quartz Mining Act (Yukon). Documents pertaining to mineral rights are recorded in district offices in Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Dawson, and Mayo. A mining recorder who reports to the Director of Mineral Resources in Whitehorse heads each district office.
  5. Rights to minerals and petroleum resources in Category A Settlement Lands as defined in the Umbrella Final Agreement of 1993 may be administered by Yukon First Nations in accordance with their enabling legislation.

Legal Surveys

General
  1. In this section, Regional Office means the office of the Surveyor General Branch in Whitehorse.
  2. Legal surveys in Yukon may be made to define the boundaries of:
    1. federal or territorial jurisdictions;
    2. land claim settlement areas;
    3. lands subject to a sale or grant;
    4. lands subject to a lease, permit, or other limited interest;
    5. an easement or road right-of-way;
    6. parcels within land claims settlement areas;
    7. a parcel made to accommodate a requirement of a federal or territorial government department; and
    8. mineral claims and placer mining base lines.
  3. Legal surveys in Yukon may be made to re-establish or restore boundaries when monuments or other evidence of boundaries become lost or obliterated, or to correct errors in previous surveys.
  4. Special surveys may also be made for the purposes identified in section 35 of the Canada Lands Surveys Act.
  5. Legal surveys in Whitehorse must be integrated into the Whitehorse Coordinated Survey Area.
  6. Legal surveys in Yukon must be carried out by a licensed Canada Lands Surveyor.
  7. When an application is made for specific survey instructions the surveyor must identify which lands are Federal Lands, Yukon Lands, Titled Lands, or Settlement Lands.
Federal Lands
  1. General administrative requirements and procedures for legal surveys are given in Chapter C1.
  2. Legal surveys of Federal Lands are made under the authority of the Canada Lands Surveys Act. In cases where the lands are titled in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, the land may be surveyed under either the authority of the Canada Lands Surveys Act or the Land Titles Act (Yukon).
  3. Legal surveys of Federal Lands require the approval of the federal government department administering the lands. Legal surveys of Federal lands within Whitehorse and Dawson also require the approval of the municipality under their respective Subdivision Control Bylaw.
Yukon Lands
  1. General administrative requirements and procedures for legal surveys are given in Chapter C1.
  2. Legal surveys of Yukon Lands are made under the authority of the Canada Lands Surveys Act.
  3. Legal surveys of Yukon Lands require the approval of the Lands Branch of the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.
  4. In addition to the requirements of paragraph 38, legal surveys of Yukon Lands outside of Whitehorse and Dawson require approval under the Subdivision Act (Yukon). Legal Surveys of Yukon Lands within Whitehorse and Dawson require the approval of the municipality under their respective Subdivision Control Bylaw.
Titled Lands
  1. Legal surveys of Titled Lands are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Canada Lands Surveys Act, as specified in the Land Titles Act (Yukon) and the Land Titles Plans Regulation (Yukon).
  2. Legal surveys and plans of Titled Lands shall be executed and prepared in accordance with Chapter D1, as well as Chapter D4 for condominium surveys.
  3. Subject to paragraph 43, legal surveys of Titled Lands do not require specific survey instructions, but the surveyor must obtain lot designations from the Regional Office.
  4. Specific survey instructions are required if:
    1. the lands dealt with in the survey include Federal Lands or Yukon Lands; or
    2. federal or territorial government departments have requested the Surveyor General to issue specific survey instructions for the survey of Titled Lands owned or required by these departments.
  5. A proposed subdivision of Titled Lands outside of Whitehorse and Dawson requires a sketch plan prepared in accordance with the Subdivision Regulations (Yukon) to be approved by an approving officer appointed under the Subdivision Act (Yukon). In Whitehorse and Dawson, a sketch plan must be prepared and approved under their respective Subdivision Control Bylaw. After approval the surveyor must submit the sketch plan to the Regional Office which will issue lot numbers.
  6. After the plan of survey of a subdivision has been completed, the surveyor shall send it to the Regional Office and appropriate authority for review.
  7. After the approval authority approves the plan of survey of a subdivision, the surveyor shall send it to the Regional Office. The Regional Office records it in the Canada Lands Surveys Records and submits the original plan along with a reproducible copy to the Land Titles Office. The Registrar registers the original and puts the land registration information on the copy of the plan and returns it to the Regional Office. The Regional Office sends the copy for recording in the Canada Lands Surveys Records in Ottawa.
  8. Plans of survey of condominiums are prepared in accordance with the Land Titles Act (Yukon) and the Condominium Act (Yukon). Specific survey instructions are not required. General instructions for these surveys are given in Chapter D4. In addition to the approvals required in paragraphs 44 and 45, condominium plans must be approved by the Surveyor General or a person designated by the Surveyor General to approve such plans.
Oil and Gas
  1. Legal surveys and land descriptions are required for oil and gas development in Yukon and the adjoining area, such as:
    1. well, field facility or pipeline licences;
    2. drilling approvals; and
    3. surface rights required for pipelines, wellsites and other related facilities.
  2. Land descriptions of oil and gas dispositions are based on the NAD83(CSRS) geographical grid system defined in the Oil and Gas Disposition Regulations (Yukon).
  3. For wells, legal surveys are governed by section 17 of the Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations (Yukon) and sections 32 and 33 of the Oil and Gas Licence Administration Regulations (Yukon).
  4. Specific survey instructions are not required for legal surveys of wells, but they may be issued to clarify exceptional circumstances. Plans of survey are forwarded to the Regional Office for review and recording in the Canada Lands Surveys Records.
  5. Legal surveys for surface rights required for pipelines, wellsites and other related facilities are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Canada Lands Surveys Act.
Mineral Claims
  1. Legal surveys of mineral claims are governed by the Quartz Mining Act (Yukon) or the Placer Mining Act (Yukon).
  2. For legal surveys of all mineral claims the surveyor must obtain lot numbers from the Regional Office. Specific survey instructions are not required for legal surveys under either act, except for surveys of baselines under the Placer Mining Act (Yukon). General instructions for surveys under both acts are given in Chapter D9.
  3. The surveyor shall send the plan of survey to the Regional Office for review.
  4. The plan of survey will be approved by the Surveyor General or a person designated by the Surveyor General to approve such plans once notification has been received from the Mining Recorder that the provisions of the appropriate act have been complied with.
  5. Plans of surveys of mineral claims are recorded in the Canada Lands Surveys Records.
  6. Legal surveys for a dredging lease may also be required under the Dredging Regulation (Yukon). These surveys require specific survey instructions.

SCHEDULE C3-1

(paragraph 16 and 20)
Land Claims Settlements, Yukon
 
Enabling Legislation
Yukon First Nation
administering the Lands
Office Location
Gwich'in Land Claim
 
Fort
Settlement Act (S.C. 1992, c.53
Gwich'in Tribal Council
McPherson
 
Champagne and Aishihik
Haines Junction
 
Teslin Tlingit Council
Teslin
 
Nacho Nyak Dun
Mayo
Yukon First Nations Claim
Vuntut Gwitchin
Old Crow
Settlement Act (S.C. 1994, c.34)
Little Salmon/Carmacks
Carmacks
and Yukon First Nations
Selkirk
Pelly Crossing
(S. C. 1994, c. 35)
Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in'
Dawson
 
Ta'an Kwach'an Council
Mayo
 
Kluane
Burwash Crossing
 
Kwanlin Dun
Whitehorse
 
Carcross/Tagish
Carcross