Lt.-Colonel Joseph Bouchette (French pronunciation: [ʒozɛf buʃɛt]; May 14, 1774 – April 8, 1841) was the Canadian Surveyor-General of British North America.

[1] In 1775, his father rescued General Guy Carleton, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in North America, by navigating him and his family along the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal, through the American lines, and up to Quebec.

This bold move reversed the outcome of the Battle of Quebec (1775), and for his part Joseph's father was handsomely rewarded with nearly 6,000 acres of land and considerable military advancements by the grateful Governor, Sir John Graves Simcoe.

[2] Bouchette, a member of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, remained in York for sometime assisting Augustus Jones with surveying the new provincial capital.

[2] In Autumn, 1793, HMS Onondaga was run aground by a young Lieutenant outside Toronto Harbour and it was feared it could not be salvaged until after winter.

He returned to Quebec City in 1801 to take up in the offices (which he found in a state of great disorder) of his elderly uncle, Samuel Holland, Surveyor General of The Canadas.

In 1815, he published his great book Topographical Description of the province of Lower Canada, which was the sum of knowledge of the territory for that day.