How do I read a BC property's legal description?
A BC legal description names the lot on its survey plan, the older parcel it was cut from and the land district; paste it in the box below and the plan's lots open.
Opens the lot's report at this answer. If an address isn't found, try the PID, the 9-digit parcel number on the land title or assessment notice.
What the answer means
Every titled parcel in BC has a legal description, the words on its title that say which land it is: a lot on a survey plan, the larger parcel that plan cut up, and the land district it lies in. The PID is a number for the same parcel; a civic address is neither.
- The parts, smallest first
- A description runs from the smallest piece to the largest: "Lot 5, Block 2, District Lot 1234, Kamloops Division Yale District, Plan KAP12345" is lot 5 in block 2 of a subdivision plan, cut from district lot 1234 in the Kamloops Division of Yale land district. The LTSA's filing guide accepts short forms such as DL for district lot, Sec for section, Tp for township, Rge for range, Bl for block, W6M for west of the sixth meridian, and KDYD, ODYD, SDYD, YDYD and NWD for the Yale divisions and New Westminster District.
- Where it comes from
- Land is first registered as the Crown grant described it, and every later description must follow one of the methods the Land Title Act allows (ss. 60, 62). The LTSA builds a description from those core elements of the grant, the district lot or section and the land district, and adds the lot, block and plan number of the newest subdivision plan; older plans drop out unless they're needed to identify the land (its Practice Manual on s. 58).
- District lots, sections, townships and ranges
- Most of BC was granted as district lots, numbered within each land district and of any shape (our reading). Where the land was surveyed in the federal Dominion Land Survey's grid, mainly the old railway belt along the CPR and the Peace River Block, a description gives a section, township and range west of a meridian instead, sometimes a legal subdivision or quarter of a section (our reading of the survey history).
- The plan number
- A lot on a deposited subdivision plan may be described as a lot or block of that plan, and the plan's number must always be given (s. 63). The letters before the number name the land title office that took the plan: KAP for Kamloops, VIP for Victoria, NWP, VAP or LMP for the Lower Mainland and so on, with S in place of P for a strata plan (KAS, VIS); plans filed electronically read EPP or EPS wherever the land is (our reading of ParcelMap BC's plan numbers). Older descriptions give the land district and a bare number, "Plan 1234".
- "Parcel A" and "Except Plan"
- Land cut off by a metes and bounds description or an explanatory or reference plan may be given a letter, such as Parcel A, and then described by that letter with the plan and the parcel it came from (ss. 64, 66). What's left of the older parcel takes a letter too, or is described as that parcel "except" the piece cut off (s. 65): "District Lot 1234 Except Plan KAP67890" is the district lot without the part that plan took, often a road or a later lot.
- Strata lots
- A strata lot is part of a building, or in a bare land strata a lot of land, with a share in the common property, the land and building on the strata plan that isn't any strata lot (the LTSA's glossary). Its description names the strata lot and the strata plan, such as "Strata Lot 12, Plan KAS3456", and often adds its share of the common property (our reading).
- The PID and the address
- The registrar may give each titled parcel a nine-digit parcel identifier and require it on documents with the description (s. 58 (3), (4)); the description says which land it is, and the PID is the number for that same parcel. A civic address isn't part of either: the LTSA says a title can't be searched by address. See finding a PID.
- What the search here does with one
- Paste a description in the box above and we read its plan number: a plan with one titled lot opens that lot's report, and a plan with several lists them on a map to pick from, as ParcelMap BC's open map has no lot numbers. An older description with a land district and a bare plan number is tried under that district's prefixes (the table below). Parcels without a plan, such as a whole district lot, are found by address or on the map instead (our reading).
- What binds
- The description on the title, and the survey plan it names, decide what land is sold; a map line, ours included, is drawn from them. Ask your lawyer or notary for the title and the plan, and a BC land surveyor where the posts on the ground matter: see where the property lines run.
Our summary of the Land Title Act (RSBC 1996, c. 250, ss. 58, 60, 62 to 66) on BC Laws, the LTSA's Land Title Practices Manual on s. 58, its glossary and its e-filing guide's legal description abbreviations, read 2026-10-22; the plan prefixes by land district are our reading of ParcelMap BC's plans, checked 2026-10-04. Your lawyer or notary reads the title.
Sources (read 2026-10-22; summarised in our own words unless noted): Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, ss. 58, 60, 62 to 66; 58 Description of Land, Land Title Practices Manual, LTSA; Glossary, Land Title and Survey Authority; Form B (Mortgage), LTSA e-filing help: legal description abbreviations; ParcelMap BC parcel fabric, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Plan prefixes by land district
An older description names the land district and a bare plan number. These are the prefixes the search tries for each district, the ones ParcelMap BC's plans carry there; a district with more than one is tried in this order.
| Land district | Plans | Strata plans |
|---|---|---|
| Kamloops Division of Yale, Osoyoos Division of Yale, Similkameen Division of Yale and Lillooet | KAP | KAS |
| Yale Division of Yale | KAP, NWP | KAS |
| New Westminster | NWP, VAP, LMP | NWS, VAS, LMS |
| Cariboo | PGP | PGS |
| Kootenay | NEP | NES |
| Peace River | PGP, BCP | PGS |
| Range 5 Coast, Range 4 Coast, Cassiar and Queen Charlotte | PRP | PRS |
| Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands: 36 districts (Alberni, Bright, Cedar, Chemainus, Clayoquot, Comiaken, Comox, Cowichan, Cowichan Lake, Cranberry, Dunsmuir, Esquimalt, Goldstream, Highland, Lake, Malahat, Metchosin, Mountain, Nanaimo, Nanoose, Nelson, Newcastle, Nootka, North Saanich, Otter, Oyster, Quamichan, Rupert, Sahtlam, Sayward, Shawnigan, Somenos, Sooke, South Saanich, Victoria and Wellington) | VIP | VIS |
Districts with too few titled lots to check (Range 1 to 3 Coast, Texada Island and a few small Island districts) aren't listed: search their plan with its prefix, or by address.
Before you buy: who to ask
- The seller or their agent
- What is the legal description and PID on the title, and is any part of the land excepted, such as a road or a lot sold off?
- Your lawyer or notary
- Does the title's description match the listing, and which plans does it name?
- A BC land surveyor
- Where on the ground are the posts of the plan the description names?
See also finding a PID, official records on a property, where the property lines run, consolidating lots, subdividing a lot and buying into a strata.
Buying rural land? Before you buy rural land in BC: the nine questions that decide an offer, on one printable page.