Manual of Instructions for the Survey of Dominion Lands, 1st to 10th Editions

This section contains the general instructions of the Surveyor General published in the 1^st to 10^th editions of the Manual. All editions are available online as scanned images only. The publications were only printed in English. French versions were never produced. Consult the Guide to Standards for Surveys, Survey Plans & Survey Records of Dominion and Canada Lands (in preparation) for further historical details.

The Supplement to the Manual of Instructions contains information that at one time formed part of the Manual of Instructions. It contains directions for determining the astronomical and magnetic meridians, on the use of instruments, and on problems connected with surveying the various township systems of Western Canada. In particular, it contains a number of tables specially adapted to these township surveys.

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Availability of Manuals of Instruction for the Survey of Canada Lands 1-3 editions

Manual	Date in Force	File format
1st Edition	1871	PDF
Amendments	1880	PDF
2nd Edition	1881	PDF
3rd Edition	1883	PDF
4th Ed. First Part - Preliminary	1890	PDF
4th Edition	1892	PDF
5th Ed. First Part	1902	PDF
5th Edition	1903	PDF
Amendments	1904
6th Edition	1905	PDF
Amendments	1906	PDF
Amendments	1908	PDF
Resurvey Instructions	1908	PDF
7th Edition	1910	PDF
Maps and Specimen Plans	1910	PDF
8th Edition	1913	PDF
9th Edition	1918	PDF
Maps and Specimen Plans	1918	PDF
10th Edition	1946	PDF
10th Edition (Reprint)	1956	PDF
Amendment (sec. 118)	1982	PDF

Supplements to the Survey of Dominion Lands

Supplement	Date in Force	File format
Gen. Report of Operations 1869-89 (2nd Section - DLS System Theory)	1892	PDF
1st Edition	1908	PDF
Amendments (Table XVII)	no date
2nd Edition	1917	PDF
Amendments (Table XIII)	no date

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