THE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA LANDS SURVEYORS (ACLS) ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 THE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA LANDS SURVEYORS (ACLS) ANNUAL REPORT November 15 th, 2012

2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION... 1 ACLS COUNCIL... 1 STAFF... 2 MEMBERSHIP, COMMISSIONS, LICENCES AND PERMITS MEMBERSHIP COMMISSIONS LICENCES AND PERMITS... 3 ENTRY TO THE PROFESSION CANDIDATES CANADIAN BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR PROFESSIONAL SURVEYORS (CBEPS) EXAMINATIONS... 3 COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES STATUTORY COMMITTEES FUNCTION AND ISSUES DRIVEN COMMITTEES... 3 DISCIPLINE... 4 PRACTICE REVIEW... 4 STRATEGIC PLANNING... 4 MANDATORY CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT... 5 PROGRAM (CPD)... 5 PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM... 6 DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES... 6 PLAN REVIEW CHECKLIST PROJECT... 7 DAVID THOMPSON NATIONAL GEOMATICS AWARDS... 8 NATIONAL SURVEYORS CONFERENCE... 9 RELATIONSHIP WITH NRCAN S SGB CONCLUSION... 10

3 ASSOCIATION OF CANADA LANDS SURVEYORS ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING ON JUNE 8, 2012 INTRODUCTION The Association of Canada Lands Surveyors (ACLS) is a national self-regulating professional association. It has over 630 members located across Canada (and the world), who have expertise in surveying, photogrammetry, remote sensing, geodesy, hydrography and land information systems. Licensed Canada Lands Surveyors (CLS) are the only ones authorized by the Canada Lands Surveyors Act to perform cadastral surveying on Canada Lands, which are formed by Aboriginal Reserves, Federal Parks, all lands in the three territories and the offshore portion that is not under provincial jurisdiction. The objects of the Association are (a) to establish and maintain standards of qualifications for Canada Lands Surveyors; (b) to regulate Canada Lands Surveyors; (c) to establish and maintain standards of conduct, knowledge and skill among members of the Association and permit holders; (d) to govern the activities of members of the Association and permit holders; (e) to cooperate with other organizations for the advancement of surveying; and (f) to perform the duties and exercise the powers that are imposed or conferred on the Association by the Canada Lands Surveyors Act. ACLS COUNCIL The leadership of the Association is provided by a Council which is a mix of elected and appointed individuals. The ACLS Council for the term was formed by the following people: POSITION NAME HOME President Richard Beaumont Edmonton, Alberta Past President Jeff Fee Toronto, Ontario Vice President Ivan Royan Kamloops, British Columbia 3 rd Year Councillor Estelle Moisan Québec City, Québec 2 nd Year Councillor Bruce Hewlko Yellowknife, Northwest Territories 1 st Year Councillor Gord Stark Starbuck, Manitoba Appointed by Minister Geoffrey Connolly Cornwall, Prince Edward Island Appointed by Minister Zakary Hargrove Clearview, New Brunswick Surveyor General Peter Sullivan Edmonton, Alberta In the past year, Council held three face-to-face meetings on the following dates and locations: June 25, 2011 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, November 24 and 25, 2011 in Regina, Saskatchewan and June 5, 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan. It also held teleconference meetings on July 11, August 9, September 26, October 19 and December 13 in 2011 and January 10, February 7, February 28, March 27, May 1, and May 22 in

4 Council s priorities in the last year were the following: Implement a portal to facilitate the offering of distance learning opportunities for ACLS members and other surveyors across Canada. Update the CLS candidate study material. Following the implementation of the MyCLSS electronic checklist, add some major enhancements to the system to improve it s functionality. STAFF The Association of Canada Lands Surveyors staff is composed of four full time employees and one part time contractual position. Jean-Claude Tétreault, CLS, a.-g., P. Eng., MBA, is the ACLS Executive Director, Registrar, and Secretary Treasurer as well as the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS) Registrar. Kevin Jones fulfils the roles of the Assistant to the Executive Director and the Board of Examiners Administrator for both the ACLS and the CBEPS. Teri McKay returned to being the ACLS Administrative Assistant at the end of September, 2011 and Martha Reeve moved to the new position of Communications and Membership Services Administrator. James Gunn, CLS, NSLS is the ACLS Practice Review Manager on a contractual basis. MEMBERSHIP, COMMISSIONS, LICENCES AND PERMITS 1. MEMBERSHIP On July 20 th, 2012 the Association membership stood at a total of 636, which included 517 regular members, 8 honorary life members, 71 retired members, 6 associate members, 33 student members, and 1 honorary member. The Association s membership increased on average at a rate of 2.1% per year since

5 2. COMMISSIONS 13 new commissions were presented since June 24 th, LICENCES AND PERMITS On July 20 th, 2012, 402 ACLS regular members held a valid license to practice, and 190 firms held a valid permit. ENTRY TO THE PROFESSION 1. CANDIDATES 22 individuals were admitted as new candidates for a Canada Lands Surveyors Commission between July 31 st, 2011 and July 31 st, At present there are 118 CLS candidates registered with the ACLS Board of Examiners. 2. CANADIAN BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR PROFESSIONAL SURVEYORS (CBEPS) The ACLS continues to provide the administration and registrar services for the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors. The ACLS has a strong core competency in the fields of candidate management and examinations and wants to continue to make these resources available to the whole surveying community. 3. EXAMINATIONS Since March 2011 two candidate examination sittings were held; one in October 2011, and one in March In October, 13 candidates wrote 15 professional examinations and in March, 7 candidates wrote 11 professional examinations. 7 candidates wrote an on-line, on demand exam which was developed for surveyors who hold commissions in a province and wish to obtain a CLS commission. COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES The various committees continued to be very active this year. The following groups of volunteers do the bulk of the work for the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors: 1. STATUTORY COMMITTEES Executive Board of Examiners Complaints Discipline The mandates of these committees are outlined in the Canada Lands Surveyors Act. 2. FUNCTION AND ISSUES DRIVEN COMMITTEES Finance: oversees the financial management of the Association. Practice Review: monitors a program of review of surveying activities as authorized by the Canada Lands Surveyors Regulations and approved by Council. Bylaws and Legislation: considers changes to the Association s General By-laws, CLS Regulations, and the Act and then offers recommendations to Council. Continuing Professional Development (CPD): monitors implementation of the Mandatory CPD Program and provides support in the organisation of CPD seminars. Insurance: monitors professional liability insurance issues. 3

6 Offshore Issues: heightens the awareness of the Association s membership and other stakeholders involved in Offshore Canada Lands of survey issues related to hydrography, offshore surveying and positioning. Aboriginal Liaison: clarifies the role of Canada Lands Surveyor in respect to surveying on Aboriginal lands, and develops working relationship with Aboriginal communities. Nominating: searches for candidates to fill the Council seats that become vacant come year-end, and for candidates to be offered an honorary life membership. Standards of Practice: updates and improves the ACLS Practice Manual. Public Awareness: coordinates, and supports the Association s committees public awareness activities and implements initiatives set out by Council. National Conference: provides continuity for the yearly National Surveyors Conference by standardizing procedures and sets long term plans. Plan Review Advisory: provides feedback to the Joint Surveyor General Branch-ACLS Plan Review Task Force (see below) from a private practice practitioner s perspective of the new ACLS-SGB Plan Review Checklist and the new plan submission process. DISCIPLINE The Association of Canada Lands Surveyors received no formal complaint and the Discipline Committee had no case to deal with in the past year. PRACTICE REVIEW The Practice Review department is well into its third cycle of reviews. So far the reviews have not brought up major issues and reviewed firms expressed their satisfaction with the process. STRATEGIC PLANNING An intense ACLS Council strategic planning update session was held in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 25 th, At the end of the planning session, Council adopted its strategic plan for the next three years which includes the following strategic initiatives in order of priority: Updating of the study material that is available to candidates to prepare for our Professional Exams. We have been slowly renewing some our reference books but we have videotaped seminars that date back to the early 90 s. Our intention is to put together a series of distance learning courses in the next 3 years for our candidates, which would be updated every 5 years. Promotion of the National Conference which is held every year in conjunction with our annual general meeting. This is an on-going initiative which so far provides irregular results. Since there is no National Forum for surveyors of all jurisdictions, the ACLS has taken the initiative to promote its conference as the national gathering of all surveyors and welcomes ACLS members as well as non-acls members. The ACLS s intention is to continue to promote this as the National Surveyors Conference. Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (see section on Continuing Professional Development on page 5). 4

7 Public Awareness Campaign to promote the surveying profession with the younger generations (see section on public awareness on page 6) Provide distance learning courses to allow our members to meet the new mandatory CPD requirements (see section on distance learning on page 7) Refocus the ACLS Aboriginal Liaison Committee on building a plan to support economic development on First Nation Reserves. The Committee is presently working on developing communication tools to deliver the message that a strong property rights system will bring economic prosperity on Aboriginal Reserves. It will then seek forums to deliver the message. Modernize the processes relative to submitting survey plans to the Surveyor General Branch in order to obtain efficiency and minimize delays (see section on the Plan Review Checklist Project on page 7) Implement a Marine Cadastre communication plan to deliver the message to the Federal Government that the implementation of a Marine Cadastre is vital for the orderly development of our marine resources. Implementation of a Hydrographer Certification program that meets international standards. The ACLS is presently gathering support in view of obtaining international recognition of its program. It is an ambitious plan but the ACLS Council is encouraged by the great progress that has been made on most if its initiatives so far. Council will hold a Strategic Planning meeting every Fall to update the plan. MANDATORY CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (CPD) Mandatory CPD ensures participation by all members and provides the metrics needed to demonstrate our commitment. Clearly there is a trend with our sister associations towards mandatory CPD. Other professions are also moving in this direction. Recognizing the geographically diverse nature of our membership, the ACLS will enhance the delivery of CPD through Distance Learning (DL) initiatives. This will include DL courses offered through partnership with sister associations, academic institutions and through the ACLS website. At the beginning of August, the ACLS staff completed the monitoring of all CPD activities entered into the on-line ACLS MCPD Tracking system. Members that had some issues with their activities were contacted via at the beginning of August. Those who did not receive such an have entered their information correctly and are on track to meet the required 45 hours or are already there. The following is a summary of the results of our monitoring: Total number of members reviewed: 421 Total number of activities reviewed: 3,249 Total number of credited hours: 21,043.9 (an average of 50 hours per member) Members who were notified of having less than half of the required hours: 107 Members who have reported (0) hours : 2 Members who were notified about entries that were not acceptable activities: 11 Members who entered activities under the wrong category: 50 5

8 Being a first monitoring exercise, the results are very positive. The biggest issue we noticed is that many members are confused between the Participation and Courses and Seminars categories and all of then penalized themselves since Participation only credits half of the time declared. Almost all that made that mistake recorded time spent at the ACLS or Provincial AGMs as Participation instead of Courses and Seminars. Participation is for involvement in committees, councils, and boards of management. PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM A new promotional brochure was designed to reflect the modern face of surveying and the Association. Use of 4 of the Surveyor in a Crate. A teachers' resource kit to be used in classrooms across the country to illustrate the use of geometry in real life situations and at the same time introduce students to surveying in a fun way by playing games. 4 have been ordered to circulate throughout schools around the country. One Crate is currently in circulation in Yellowknife and another will soon be in circulation in Whitehorse. The ACLS has started venturing into the world of social networking. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, or on LinkedIn. ACLS is using social media as a way to interact with their members and potential surveyors on a regular basis. DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES Present day technology has the ability to facilitate so many things that it s sometimes hard to comprehend how fast it moves along. This is one of the reasons that professional associations across Canada and the globe have started to move towards Mandatory Professional Development, but it also gives us the opportunity to prove how it easy it can be to access the necessary material. GeoEd is a collaborative program that seeks to include all provincial and federal surveying associations in Canada to promote accessible continuing professional development. The initiative was conceived and developed by the ACLS (Association of Canada Lands Surveyors) when it recognized the need of a national forum for CPD. ACLS continues to maintain the portal in what will hopefully become a cooperative effort to share resources and expertise towards the development of national learning. Part of this is initiative is a forum that anyone can register in at Here you can search by jurisdiction to find seminars that are happening near you, as well as post upcoming ones for others to find. You can chat to surveyors across Canada about seminars you have attended and what sort of seminars you would like to see in the future. Using the forum insures that every person can have a voice in how future CPD opportunities develop. Although the forum is an important part of GeoEd, it isn t the most exciting part. GeoEd is currently constructing an online system for course delivery! This means that there will be full courses on a variety of topics that will be available at your fingertips. These courses will occasionally consist of live, interactive webinars, but will mostly be courses that are fully selfstudy with recorded video and other digital materials. Surveyors will be able to sign up for any course and complete it at their leisure. 6

9 Screenshot of the front page of GeoEd Some courses currently available through GeoEd are: a 30 minute course that focuses on How to do Business with the Federal Government, a 10 module Offshore Property Rights course for CLS candidates, and a course on the new features of the CLSS Map Browser 2.0. GeoEd exists to help surveyors succeed, but it will need surveyors from across the country to participate if it is to become a truly national resource. Join a discussion in the forum! Talk about an amazing course you ve been on! Take an online course to advance your continuing professional development credit! Our hope is that GeoEd will be the tool for surveyors across Canada will use to make educational opportunities as easy and accessible as possible. Please visit GeoEd at: PLAN REVIEW CHECKLIST PROJECT We are glad to announce that the new MyCLSS website has been launched and the use of the electronic checklist application is now mandatory for ACLS Licence holders as of August 1, 2011, after passing a membership vote. The MyCLSS website includes on-line tools for requesting survey instructions, completing a customized checklist for most Survey Documents that are prepared for submission to the Surveyor General and updating of contact information for use by the ACLS and the Surveyor General Branch. The MyCLSS website also has links to all the common sites that would typically be used during the course of preparing a Survey 7

10 Document for submission to the Surveyor General, making it a convenient single resource site for Canada Lands Surveyors and their staff. To help members quickly familiarize themselves with the website, a user manual and a PowerPoint are available on the MyCLSS web site. As well, a webinar was presented on March 31 st, 2011 and is available on YouTube. If an electronic checklist is completed, the Surveyor General Branch will perform a review of critical items only. If the plan conforms to the requirements, it will be recorded in the CLSR. This initiative will simplify and streamline the submission and review process for CLS plans and provide the Association with more effective tools to support their quality control activities and practice review processes. The Surveyor General Branch, under the leadership of Surveyor General Peter Sullivan, wish to simplify the plan examination process and speed up approvals. The ACLS seized the opportunity to assert more effectively the review of our members work and be part of an improved process of examination and quality control. A strong team comprised of SGB staff, ACLS staff, private industry consultants and ACLS volunteers, working under the direction of the Joint Surveyor General Branch-ACLS Plan Review Task Force have developed the Web based tools, testing and implementing the new processes. The SGB has made a significant financial contribution to the new system that is co-managed by the ACLS and the SGB. This project is a win-win for the ACLS, the SGB, our members, and the users of our products. To access the website please visit DAVID THOMPSON NATIONAL GEOMATICS AWARDS This year the fifth annual David Thompson Awards were presented at the National Surveyors Conference in Regina, Saskatchewan on June 8, during the Gala dinner. In the category Innovation in Geomatics, the winner was Daniel Lachance (shown on left receiving award from ACLS President Ivan Royan) from Altus Geomatics for the project entitled LASDNav for development of an app for iphone and ipad that allows users to navigate the geospatial data in their area in real time. Finalists for this award were Jim Sutherland from Focus Corporation for Interactive Orthophoto Plans with Embedded Media Using Consumer Level Cameras ; Mel Truchon from Tulloch Geomatics for Mobile LiDAR Scanning for Transportation Design Purposes ; and Stephen Vickers from Focus Corporation for DC-3 Airplane, 3D Laser Scan. In the category Contribution to Society, the winner was Ron Robinson (shown on right receiving award from ACLS President Ivan Royan) from Challenger Geomatics for the project entitled First Nation Training for an ongoing effort started in 1998 to 8

11 train an aboriginal and northern workforce in Canada by offering survey workshops in various communities across the North. The finalist in this category was Daniel Lachance from Altus Geomatics for LSDNav. In the category Unusual Applications in Geomatics, the winner was Jim Sutherland (Bronwyn Denton shown on left receiving award from ACLS President Ivan Royan on behalf of Jim Sutherland) from Focus Corporation for the project entitled Interactive Orthophoto Plans with Embedded Media Using Consumer Level Cameras for the innovative use of a digital camera to capture images that would be used to compile a textured 3D model and orthophoto of a remote site in a tight time limit. The finalists in this category were Mel Truchon from Tulloch Geomatics for Mobile LiDAR Scanning for Transportation Design Purposes ; and Stephen Vickers from Focus Corporation for DC-3 Airplane, 3D Laser Scan. The Association of Canada Lands Surveyors (ACLS) introduced the David Thompson National Geomatics Awards Program in cooperation with all professional surveying associations across Canada through the Canadian Council of Land Surveyors (CCLS) (Now Professional Surveyors Canada (PSC)). Conceived, developed, and run by Canadian surveyors, Professional Surveyors Canada is dedicated to building and enabling a strong multi-faceted community of surveying professionals committed to exceeding expectations. For details on the David Thompson National Geomatics Awards Program, please visit: NATIONAL SURVEYORS CONFERENCE The last National Surveyors Conference was held from June 5 th to 8 th, 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan in conjunction with the SLSA. The Conference was a success with over 100 delegates attending. The following Council was confirmed at the AGM: POSITION NAME HOME President Ivan Royan Kamloops, British Columbia Past President Richard H. Beaumont Edmonton, Alberta Vice President Estelle Moisan Québec City, Québec 3 rd Year Councillor Bruce Hewlko Yellowknife, Northwest Territories 2 nd Year Councillor Gord Stark Starbuck, Manitoba 1 st Year Councillor J. Anne Cole Sudbury, Ontario Appointed by Minister Geoffrey Connolly Cornwall, Prince Edward Island Appointed by Minister Zakary Hargrove Clearview, New Brunswick Surveyor General Peter Sullivan Edmonton, Alberta Next year s conference will be held in Niagara Falls, Ontario from June 18 th to 21 st, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It will be the first of many conferences in which ACLS will partner with Professional Surveyors Canada! 9

12 RELATIONSHIP WITH NRCAN S SGB ACLS s relationship with the Surveyor General Branch (SGB) continues to be a close and valued partnership. In this past year both parties have worked closely on a specific project, the Plan Review Checklist (MyCLSS) which is quite a challenge, but is a tribute to our strong, constructive relationship. The ACLS and SGB continue to set the groundwork for the evolution of the Canada Lands Survey System into the foundation for a truly integrated property rights infrastructure for Canada Lands. Twelve Surveyor General Branch employees are active in various ACLS committees. CONCLUSION The year was a period of adapting to a new regime of mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) and mandatory use by our members of the new mandatory quality management system for submission of survey documents. Having mandatory CPD creates a challenge for the Association to provide learning opportunities to our members and we are well on our way to setting up a portal to provide that service. Another challenge is monitoring for compliance with our CPD bylaw and we seem to be on the right track there too. The ACLS continues to be a leading organisation in the geomatics community and is grateful to its many volunteers who are really the backbone of this association. Many challenges face the whole surveying community and the ACLS in particular but the Council and staff feel confident that the association will continue to grow and be the professional home of choice for professional surveyors from all parts of the country. 10