This page provides local government employees with useful information about the LTSA:
For other queries about the LTSA and the services we provide, consult the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Overview of the LTSA
The LTSA operates the land title and survey systems in BC. The Land Title Division of the LTSA, through its three Land Title Offices, examines document and survey plan applications to register land title interests, including fee simple ownership, financial changes (such as mortgages), statutory liens, and subdivisions of land. Maintained by the Land Title Division, the Land Title Register is BC's official legal record of private property ownership. To access documents in the Land Title Office, please refer to Access to Records.
The LTSA's Surveyor General Division maintains all the physical records of surveys of Crown lands and all the Crown grants issued to alienate Crown land in the province, and supports the maintenance of the provincial Crown Land Registry.
All field books which record the original surveys of Crown land, official plans of primary parcels in the province, and related physical records are maintained by the LTSA. Also, the LTSA maintains copies of all Crown grants issued by the province in their Crown Land vault in Victoria. Copies of these records can be obtained by contacting the Surveyor General Division.
The LTSA also supports the maintenance of the Crown Land Registry (CLR) records in a computer system called Tantalis, which is operated by the Integrated Land Management Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. The CLR maintains records of the survey, tenure, alienation, and acquisition of Crown land in British Columbia. Tantalis records can be accessed through government's Gator system.
Online Cadastre is an internet map viewing system maintained by the LTSA. Online Cadastre can display numerous themes or layers of information, including primary survey parcels, roads, water bodies, contour lines and air photography.
Should you have an inquiry about using provincial land, please contact the Integrated Land Management Bureau.
Role of LTSA Staff
When land title documents and plans are submitted to a Land Title Office by lawyers and notaries pubic or otherwise, our staff provide examination and registration services. Land Title Office staff are experts in land title registration matters, but they are not legal professionals. They are unable to provide legal advice on real estate transaction issues, complete application forms for land title registration or conduct historical or other research into land title records.
Surveyor General staff receive plans and applications pursuant to various statutes. Staff review survey plans for compliance with statutes, survey rules and other guiding criteria. If a survey plan is acceptable the Crown Land Registry records in Tantalis are updated and the survey plan is filed with the physical records maintained by the LTSA. At the request of the province, staff prepares Crown grants for the alienation of Crown land. These are submitted to Land Title Offices and a copy is also maintained with the physical records.
Electronic Filing
The LTSA encourages the preparation, dissemination, and submission of electronic land title documents and land survey plans.
BC lawyers, notaries public and land surveyors can submit documents and plans electronically to the LTSA on behalf of local government. For more information on the electronic filing of land title documents and land survey plans, please consult the following:
Local governments should contact a lawyer, notary public, land surveyor, or a land title search agent, as appropriate, to provide conveyancing, legal survey services, and title search services:
Resources
The following manuals and guides are excellent resources for local government employees that interact with the LTSA:
Reminder About Information Provided by the LTSA
Per the Land Title Act, the LTSA provides local governments with lot plans and searches of land title records on a fee exempt basis for the purposes of taxation or assessment of real property only.
The viewing of this information by non-government employees incurs a fee payable to the LTSA and the Province. In addition, information may have been subsequently changed or altered, and liability for privacy issues could arise from the distribution of these documents.
