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Becoming a Candidate

The process for getting a CLS commission starts with becoming a candidate. If you meet one or more of the following requirements you can apply directly to the ACLS to become a candidate:

  • If you hold a Commission or Licence as a land surveyor in a Canadian province, or are in the process of attaining one; or,
  • If you hold a Certificate of Completion from the Western Canadian Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors (WCBELS) issued within the last five years; or,
  • If you hold a Certificate of Completion from the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS) or Atlantic Provinces Board of Examiners (APBELS)

If you do not meet any of the above criteria, you first must obtain a Certificate of Completion from CBEPS. To apply to CBEPS, click here.

To complete your application, submit the Candidate Application Form (WORD, PDF), along with the $100.00 registration fee, and:

  • If you are a commissioned land surveyor in a Province:
    • A copy of your commission or licence to practice land surveying in your province; and
    • A certificate of conduct issued by your home association showing the status of the commission or licence.
  • If you hold a WCBELS Certificate of Completion – a copy of the certificate.
  • If you hold a CBEPS Certificate of Completion – the certificate number.
  • If you hold an APBELS Certificate of Completion - a copy of the certificate.

Hydrographic Surveying

Since hydrographic surveying is no longer on the list of core subjects in the new National Syllabus, the ACLS has to take steps to be sure that candidates have the required academic training in that subject.

All candidates (including those having a commission as a land surveyor in a Province) must have academic training in hydrographic surveying so we may require documented proof. In general terms, candidates with a Certificate of Completion from the WCBELS or the APBELS meet this requirement.  Holders of a Certificate of Completion from the CBEPS prior to August 2010 or after that date but with mention of E2 Hydrographic Surveying on the certificate are deemed to have met the ACLS hydrographic surveying requirement. Members of the Ordre des Arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec meet the hydrographic surveying requirement.

Candidates who do not meet this requirement will have to write a 3 hour exam. An on-line, on-demand Web based system to dispense hydrographic surveying exams is now available.