The Canadian Surveying and Mapping Industry in 1987

Abstract A country's economic and social development is shaped in large measure not only by its distinctive physical and economic geography, but also by how this geography is perceived by its people and leaders. Knowledge about the physical character and natural resources of a country is of fundamental importance in undertaking any development strategy and this information is largely derived from surveys, maps and charts. From a Canadian perspective, Dr. E.F. Roots has noted that because “Canada was a large land with comparatively few native inhabitants, and because its modern settlement took place rapidly in the wake of the industrial revolution and the first organised applications of technology to country development, surveys and mapping have played a perhaps more important and familiar role in the development of the country than in most other nations. Cadastral, boundary and resource surveys have to a large degree led the development of Canada, rather than followed it.” [Roots, 1985] And, almost from t...