Western Canada Land Description Lookup
Convert DLS, LSD and British Columbia NTS locations to exact parcel maps and GPS coordinates. Built on surveyed township corners from official provincial records.
Type a description, see the exact parcel
DLS / LSD
NE-14-48-1-W5
Quarter, half, section or LSD with township, range and meridian — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and BC's Peace Country.
BC NTS
d-96-H/94-A-15
BC well-style NTS/BCGS locations: quarter unit, unit and block on a 1:50,000 map sheet.
GPS reverse
53.476038, -113.405612
Latitude and longitude — or your current location — back to the legal description containing that point.
Surveyed corners, not just an idealized grid
Every conversion is computed against more than 21,000 townships of surveyed corner coordinates published by the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. Pure Dominion Land Survey math drifts 50–200 m from the monuments on the ground; warping the grid through real survey fabric keeps results within tens of metres. Read the methodology.
Built for the field — take it offline
The iPhone app computes every lookup on-device: offline base maps of all four provinces, current-location lookup, favourites with notes, saved map areas and turn-by-turn handoff — kilometres from the nearest signal.
Understand the survey systems
Frequently asked questions
- What is a legal land description?
- A legal land description identifies a parcel in Western Canada's Dominion Land Survey (DLS): quarter section or legal subdivision (LSD), section, township, range and meridian — for example NE-14-48-1-W5. British Columbia's energy sector also uses NTS/BCGS well-style locations like d-96-H/94-A-15.
- How accurate are the results?
- Positions are computed from official provincial survey records — surveyed township corners from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and BC government data — not just an idealized grid. Typical accuracy is within tens of metres. Results are for navigation and reference, not a legal survey.
- Which provinces are covered?
- Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (full DLS coverage, meridians E2 through W6), plus British Columbia: the Peace River Block DLS grid and NTS/BCGS locations across the province.
- Can I convert GPS coordinates back to a land description?
- Yes — enter a latitude and longitude (or use your current location) and the tool returns the nearest section, half, quarter or LSD containing that point.