The profession of land surveying in the Province of New Brunswick can trace its roots to when the province was first formed after separating from Nova Scotia in 1784. One of the first challenges for the new province was to assist the many Empire Loyalists to obtain land grants for farming and development. The task of undertaking land surveys and preparing plans and reports was done by the Deputy Land Surveyors.

The Deputy Land Surveyors were a small group who worked under the Surveyor General of New Brunswick. The first Deputy Land Surveyors were Loyalists with military experience as engineers, most of whom lived in the area where they did their survey work and were farmers or merchants. They can essentially be thought of as the Surveyor General’s “men in the field” who would go out and directly survey potential land to be granted and establish the grant’s boundaries. Return of Survey documents were created from their survey notes, which would show in detail the size, location, and other pertinent information concerning the land to be granted. Official land grants would be drawn up from these Returns. Deputy Land Surveyors were also required to evaluate improvements made to land already granted, arbitrate minor disputes over ownership, supervise town settlements, and explore, map, and report on land, timber, and mineral resources. They also conducted exploratory and mapping surveys with the goal of producing general plans of the Province of New Brunswick.

The title of “Deputy Land Surveyor” was used up until April 1950. Under the Land Surveyors Act, Chapter 161, the new term “New Brunswick Land Surveyor” was used for any new surveyor.