Reference plan (survey)

A buyer or lender can use a reference plan to see how a parcel’s boundaries were drawn when part of a property is transferred or charged. See how to check title and liens when buying from an insolvency for the title side of the check. This entry covers Ontario and British Columbia only; check the rules where you are.

The Ontario rule

Section 150(2) lists transfers and charges that do not need one, including a transfer of the whole of a registered parcel according to the parcel register. Under section 150(3), the land registrar may order that the requirement does not apply to a transfer or charge named in the order. Under section 150(4), new boundaries created by a severance shown on a reference plan and referred to or incorporated by reference in a registered instrument signed by the registered owner are deemed true and unalterable boundaries defined by the monuments shown on it, but those monuments do not alter any previously established boundary or prejudice prior registered rights or interests.

British Columbia

The Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia’s glossary describes a survey plan as a graphical representation of a survey conducted by a BC land surveyor. It gives a reference plan as one example of a plan that establishes the boundaries of a new parcel of titled land. Ask for the plan that matches the parcel being sold.