[1] It is a self-governing, non-profit, non-governmental organization that manages the activities of its members across Canada in the field of cadastral (boundary or legal) surveying.
[2] Of the Canadian surveying associations, the ACLS has the largest jurisdiction in terms of geographic size; it covers about 10,900,000 square kilometres, which is nearly seven times the surface area of the Province of Quebec.
ACLS assumed its responsibilities as a national, self-regulating Association on March 18, 1999, when the Canada Lands Surveyors Act came into force.
All licence holders of the ACLS must complete a mandatory 40 hours of continuing professional development over a period of three years.
All licensed Canada Lands surveyors are required to have their work reviewed by the association practice review manager[14] Canada Lands surveyors specialize in one or more disciplines and often have some knowledge of all types of surveying, so it is choice of the professional to find the best solution to any technical or management problem related to measurement and spatial positioning.