DLS vs PLSS: the Canadian and US township grids compared
The Dominion Land Survey (Canada) and the Public Land Survey System (US) are cousins. Both are rectangular township grids built on sections and quarters, but they number and reference land differently.
What's the same
Both divide land into townships of 36 sections, each about one square mile, and both use quarter sections of roughly 160 acres.
What's different
DLS reads from the quarter outward and uses numbered meridians (W1–W6); PLSS reads section → township → range → meridian and uses 37 named principal meridians. DLS routes to Township Canada; PLSS routes to Township America.
How the section numbers run
Both number a township's 36 sections in a back-and-forth (boustrophedon) pattern, but they start in opposite corners. The US PLSS begins at section 1 in the north-east corner and ends at section 36 in the south-east. The Canadian DLS begins at section 1 in the south-east corner and ends at section 36 in the north-east.
So the same section number sits in a different place depending on the system — one more reason a description is only safe to map once you know whether it is DLS or PLSS.
DLS vs PLSS at a glance
| DLS (Canada) | PLSS (United States) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reading order | Quarter → section → township → range → meridian | Section → township → range → meridian |
| Meridians | Numbered: W1–W6 | 37 named principal meridians |
| Section 1 corner | South-east (runs to 36 in the north-east) | North-east (runs to 36 in the south-east) |
| Finer subdivisions | Quarter sections; 16 legal subdivisions (LSDs) of 40 acres | Quarter sections; aliquot quarter-quarters of ~40 acres |
| Routes to | Township Canada | Township America |
Last reviewed June 2026. General information about survey systems — not legal, title, or survey advice.
Sources: US BLM — Cadastral Survey (PLSS), Natural Resources Canada — About Canada Lands surveys.