Since the beginning of the colony, whether under the French or English regimes or under contemporary governments, the measurement and delimitation of the territory for dividing land has been a constant preoccupation for the government.

The year 1626 marked the beginning of surveying, as Samuel de Champlain, considered the first surveyor in Canada, set out to measure the first three seigniories. Surveying was later to become customary, preceding the settlement of each new portion of the Québec territory.

• A Territory to Share
  The French initiated the division of New France land by creating seigniories.
• The English Heritage
  Land surveying really began to develop when the British introduced a general surveyor function.
• A Responsibility to Entrust
  Following the British North America Act, the provinces were entrusted with the responsibility for land surveying.