Update: In-Person ORCGA Geographic Councils Now Cancelled
LRO Survey
The LRO Task Force wants to hear about your experience using ServiceOntario land registration services and ePlans. Please take a few minutes to fill out this short survey:
* Deadline for responses is December 2, 2022 at 5 p.m. Your feedback is important!
Bulletin 2022-05: Crown Land ePlans
As communicated in Bulletin 2019-01, changes were made to Teraview to allow the direct electronic submission of land titles survey plans of land in the land registration system (“ePlans”). Surveyors have found ePlans to be faster and more convenient than filing hard copy plans, and as a result, the types of ePlans accepted through Teraview has expanded to include land titles surveys of Crown Lands. The introduction of new plan types accepted through Teraview will be announced as they become available.
A new electronic document titled “Application-Crown Land Reference Plan (No PIN)” is now available in Teraview for the direct electronic submission of Crown Land Survey Plans (“Crown Land ePlans”).
Joseph Osei Ababio hails from a West African country, formerly called the Gold Coast by the British, but now Ghana. Ghana is approximately 10,000 km across the North and South Atlantic Seas.
He completed his post-secondary education at the University of Mines and Technology in the Western Region of Ghana with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geomatic Engineering.
Right out of university, he began his professional career working for different companies and institutions in varied disciplines, spanning from mining surveys, construction surveys, cadastral surveys, and GIS, while also contributing to the national discourse on illegal mining and mortality indicators through GIS research.
He moved to Canada in January 2018 to pursue a Post-Graduate Diploma in Engineering Business and Safety Management with Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He joined J. D. Barnes Limited during this period as a summer student.
Joseph began his articles in 2019 under the supervision of Rafal Kaczmarek, OLS He was sworn in as an Ontario Land Surveyor (OLS) in September 2022.
Joseph would like to express his profound gratitude to his wife, Ireti, for being the constant voice of encouragement whenever he needed it. Also, to his family and his in-laws for being unconditionally loving and supportive. He expresses his admiration and thanks to all the surveyors working for J. D. Barnes Limited for contributing to his knowledge base through the unrivalled J. D. Barnes articling program. A special thanks to all employees at the Thunder Bay office for being welcoming and encouraging throughout this process.
Lastly, Joseph would like to echo one of the ageless dictums from his father: “Pray for and show love to those who seek your blight, for in their efforts you will find strength, courage, and resilience to overcome.”
Damilola Shyllon graduated from the University of Lagos, Nigeria with a Bachelor of Science in Surveying and Geoinformatics in 2010, and in 2013 moved to Canada to pursue a master’s degree at the University of New Brunswick, where he graduated with a Master of Engineering in Geomatics Engineering in 2015. He commenced his articles at Rouse Surveyors Inc. in October 2018 under the supervision of Tracy Rouse, OLS.
In April 2021, Damilola transferred his articles to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario under the supervision of Bruce Parker, OLS and, after fulfilling the experience and academic requirements, he successfully completed the AOLS professional exam and was sworn in as an Ontario Land Surveyor on September 29, 2022.
Damilola would like to express his gratitude to his family, friends, and all those who assisted him along the way of his journey. Especially to Tracy Rouse, Bruce Parker, everyone at the MTO West Region, Geomatics and Rouse Surveyors Inc. for their encouragement and guidance through the articling process.
AOLS Members' Website Restructuring
As a result of complaints, we have restructured the Member Tools portion of the AOLS members’ website. This is part of a transition to move these tools to the public site. We expect to move these over to the public website by the end of next week. Once this happens, members will have access to a search tool that is currently missing. It will also help improve transparency with the public.
The search tools will take a few weeks to properly learn the new site, but should work well after that. In the interim, if you are having difficulties finding pages, there is a site map at the lower left on the splash page (the earth icon on the left panel) of the members’ site.
We expect the content to live on both the public and members’ sites for a short period of time until we are satisfied with the transition. There is a wealth of information available to you under Member Tools and you are encouraged to use it.
You are reminded that Section 35.2 of Ontario Regulation 216/10 requires you to enter a record into the Provincial Survey Records Index or an approved affiliated system within a month of completing a cadastral project or signing a plan.
Additionally, you are required to enter your historical records over a five-year period from when the regulation changes took effect (June 24, 2021).
We now have over 3.5 million records in the system. While most companies are complying, we have noticed some companies are not regularly entering records and compliance seems to have dropped off over the last few months.
This system was implemented to make it easier for surveyors to perform research and it is in the public and surveyors’ interests to make this work. Please ensure that you are meeting the requirements of this regulation.
Reminder: Updated Field Note Guidelines Webinar
The AOLS Professional Standards Committee has updated the AOLS Field Note Guidelines. The former guidelines have been merged into one document and updated to reflect current practice.
An online webinar will be held Wednesday, November 30 at 12 p.m. to present the new Field Note Guidelines and review statutory and recommended practice.
Paul Wyman, OLS – Manager of AOLS Survey Review Department and member of the AOLS PSC – will conduct the webinar.
Update: In-Person ORCGA Geographic Councils Now Cancelled
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the GCs will now be held online.
The Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) invites you to join the free Geographic Council meetings that take place across the province virtually to promote the message that “damage prevention is a shared responsibility.”
These meetings are to share underground infrastructure damage prevention best practices, exchange ideas, and provide a forum to hear about regional issues.
Register for Geographic Council #1 – November 29, 8 a.m. EST at:
Click here for the archives page for the latest Horizon and e-communiqué
Stay informed about what is happening in your national surveyor community!
Do you have suggestions for AOLS In Sight?
If you have information that you think will be of interest to other members, please let us know by emailingdwhitton@aols.org. Your input is always welcome!
