Presented by Rosa Munzer

1
An Over View of British Columbia Lands Information
Vancouver GIS Users Group

• Presented by Rosa Munzer
• November 12, 2008

2
Land ownership in BC

• Private (non-Aboriginal) registered in ALTOS
• fee-owned
• strata
• Crown
• Federal (Dominion)
• Provincial government (registered in ILRR)
• Local government (individual data sets)
• Aboriginal registered with Indian Northern
  Affairs
• Indian Reserves and traditional territories
  subject to the treaty process.
• Purchase of private land to add to reserve

3
Private Land

• The Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA)
  administers the private land registry using the
  Torrens System.
• Title to land depends on registration.
• Te prospective buyer can rely on the register,
  the accuracy of which is guaranteed by the state
  and backed by an assurance fund.
• It eliminates the need to research the chain of
  title.
• ALTOS is a register of documents (imaged) and has
  no spatial data
• Access is through BC Online https//www.bconline.
  gov.bc.ca/
• The act of registering a title in ALTOS creates
  the land interest and each interest is assigned a
  unique identifier referred to as a PID.
• The LTSA also has statutory authority for
  approving all Crown land Survey parcels (the
  Surveyor General) and for registering private
  land survey plans (Director of Land Titles).
• Private ownership of the surface does not
  generally include subsurface mineral rights.
  Privately owned subsurface is also registered in
  ALTOS.

4
Crown Land

• 94 land is BC is owned by the Crown
• Temporary occupation of Crown land for some
  purpose is referred to as land tenure
• This concept was introduced in the colonial era
  through leasing (renting).
• There are over 270 different types of tenures
  issued (Land Act, forests, subsurface, oil gas,
  water, easements, etc.)
• In most cases, the Crown retains some or all the
  subsurface rights on privately owned land. The
  subsurface mineral and placer can be acquired as
  tenures.
• The Integrated land and Resource Registry is a
  web enabled register of legal interests, rights,
  designations, and administrative boundaries on
  Crown land. http//srmwww.gov.bc.ca/irp/ILRR.htm

5
Crown Land Tenure - Rights Granting Life Cycle
INTEGRATED LAND AND RESOURCE REGISTER
Queries and reports
Register the right or interest in ILRR
Register or update request
Update right or interest
Access
Record request
Record
Record
Receipt and review application / request
Issue right or interest
Rights maintenance
Rights Granting Ministry or Agency

• Update
• interest
• interest holder
• parcel information
• ownership (Crown / or private)
• restriction / condition
• term
• status
• Record work
• Enforcement / Compliance
• Terminate / Cancel / Expire

• Determine interests and encumbrances
• Evaluation
• Status / Adjudication
• Clearance
• Referral
• Negotiate
• Stake
• Assess
• Notation of Interest
• Agreement in Principle

• Designation
• Permit
• Licence / Lease
• Grant
• Free hold (private)
• Record a claim
• Restriction / Encumbrance
• Right of Way /Easement
• Administrative boundary
• Treaty settlement lands
• Designate archaeological site

ACTIVITIES
6
Rights of Way (ROW) Easements

• Normally used to authorize linear uses of Crown
  land for transportation, communication, energy
  production and utility developments.
• The tenure holder is granted legal right of
  passage over the land for a specific purpose
• Statutory ROW are issued for so long as required
• A common misconception is that a utility, such as
  BC Hydro, owns the land under its transmission
  and distribution lines
• When land is subdivided an easement is registered
  on title to provide access across privately owned
  land (charge on title)
• Since ROW holders need to advise land holders
  about access and or work identifying and
  maintaining ownership and supporting GIS data is
  a key challenge

7
Complexity of Statusing Right of Way
Intersecting ROW. Linear corridors intersecting
parcels registered in multiple registries (Land
Titles, Crown lands, Indian Registers) with
constant ownership changes. Parcel fabric
continually changing (subdivisions,
consolidations, disposition of Crown land etc).
Unsurveyed Crown Land PIN/SID 36822581
No process for notifying ROW holders of sales or
subdivisions. Multiple circuits in a ROW.
8
ROW Data Hierarchy
9
To Status Land Users Must Consider

• Legal decisions/statutes/precedents
• Time-lines impact interpretation (i.e. over time
  the type of rights conferred changed)
• Logical flow (the status at a specific point in
  time cannot automatically be applied based on a
  different point in time)
• Which land tenures can co-exist on the same
  parcel of land and which are in conflict
• Human error at time of recording.
• Human error in interpretation of rights.
• Location, condition and completeness of original
  records.
• Location, completeness and accuracy of electronic
  records.

10
Accessing Land Tenure Records
11
Scanned Images from GATOR
Scanned Image of Crown Grant Tracing ?
Scanned Image ? of Crown Grant Document
?Copy of Plan from Field book for DL 953s SDYD
http//ilmbwww.gov.bc.ca/irb/gator/
12
Spatial Data Challenge

• ICIS provides There is no single source for all
  needed spatial information
• Everyone depends on spatial data from multiple
  external sources
• Multiple GIS software systems and map projections
  are in use
• Provincial Govt, ERSI
• Utilities, SmallWorld,
• Municipalities, various

13
GIS Challenges

• The complexity of land information.
• No single source for all information (ICIS
  provides most complete source). Some local
  governments do not have data due to lack of funds
  or expertise.
• GIS information is representational (actual
  location on the ground defined by survey).
• No single GIS standard for all BC
• Individual creation of polygons using different
  map bases and projections over time introduces
  overlay problems.
• Different levels of government using different
  GIS software (ERSI, MicroStation, CAD,
  SmallWorld) and standards (accuracy, currency,
  etc).
• Missing unique identifiers to link information to
  the related land parcel
• Different agencies using identifiers for their
  systems with no common link to other data sets)

14
HIGH LEVEL CADASTRAL FABRIC DATA FLOW
REGULATORY (TENURE MANAGEMENT) (OPERATIONAL
SYSTEMS)
BC Assessment
Integrated Cadastral Information Society
Forest Tenure (MOF)
CADASTRAL FRAMEWORK
Mineral, Coal and Petroleum Tenure (MEM)
Primary Crown Cadastre (Surveyor General)
MASCOT (Base Mapping and Geomatic Services)
Administrative Boundaries (Tenure
Related)(Various regulators)
Survey Control
Administrative Boundaries (Surveyor General)
DIGITAL SURVEY FABRIC
INTEGRATED LAND AND RESOURCE REGISTRY
COMMON CADASTRAL FABRIC
Land Tenure
Survey Control Monuments (BMGS/SG)
Private Cadastre (Land Titles)
Water Tenure
Other Tenure
Land and Resource Data Warehouse
15
Conduct Research and Acquire Imagery

• Integrated Cadastral Information Society
  http//www.icisociety.ca/
• BC Online registrations under the Land Title Act,
  Personal Property Security Act (i.e. Liens and
  Security Agreements), and a range of other useful
  information.
• Integrated Land and Resource Registry (ILRR)
• GeoBC http//www.geobc.gov.bc.ca/
• Land and Resource Data Warehouse Information
  services
• Data Distribution
• Data Discovery
• Base Map Online Imagery
• iMapBC - spatial viewing access to over 100
  datasets in the Land and Resource Data Warehouse
  (LRDW) from many different agencies. Add your own
  lines and text through the use of markup tools
  provided in the application. You can also add
  your own data.
• GEOBC on Goggle Earth
• layers sourced form the LRDW (Integrated
  Cadastral Fabric Lot Lines, Map Grids, Parks
  and Protected Areas)which users can copy and
  paste these layers their own KML files and
  publish them to the web.

16
Integrated Cadastral Information
Societyhttp//www.icisociety.ca/

• Originally incorporated as a not-for-profit
  society in 2001, the Integrated Cadastral
  Information Society (ICIS) is a partnership of
• 147 local governments,
• utility companies and
• provincial agencies.
• ICIS vision facilitates collaborative sharing and
  integration of spatial data for the economic and
  social benefit of British Columbia.
• Members have access to land parcel information in
  the data warehouse
• Local Government Parcels 884,521
• Standard Parcels 665,181
• Assessment Parcels 836,568

17
Local Governments

• Most, but not all, local governments are members
  of ICIS. Much of the municipal data in ICIS is in
  a non-integrated as is format).
• There is no common data standard for local
  governments to create and maintain or
  geo-reference data so integration is not straight
  forward.
• ICIS has instigated a program to assist
  communities.

18
A quick Summary
First Nations
Land infrastructure. Various depts. e.g.
Indian Northern Affairs, National Defense, etc.
Federal Govt
Individual Band systems
Individual systems with land and infrastructure
info.
Local Govts
Infrastructure info. (e.g. pipelines, power
lines etc.). Rely on others for base and
cadastre information
GeoBC (Integrated Land Management Bureau
Utilities
Data sharing warehouse for members (utilities,
provincial, local govt, associate members)
ICIS
Base map info (TRIM, cadastre, orthophotos).
Online store for purchase.
Base Map Information
ALTOS private lands register. Survey plan
registration. Digital Survey Plan Program
Land Titles and Survey Authority
Integrated Land Resource Registry
Assess value or land and improvement.
Developing Assessment fabric
BC Assessment (Value BC)
Crown land registry updated in real time from
issuing agency operational system (e.g., forests,
mines, etc.)