Background

Geodetic control surveying is an area of geodesy that establishes precise reference networks providing high-accuracy reference points over large areas. Geodetic control surveying supports:

  • Mapping
  • Geographic Information Systems
  • Property boundary surveys
  • Construction projects
  • Positioning and monitoring of engineering structures such as dams, bridges and highways

We maintain COSINE (Control Survey Information Exchange), Ontario’s geodetic control database.

It provides precise coordinate and elevation information for more than 125,000 horizontal control monuments and vertical benchmarks provided by ministries, federal departments, municipalities, conservation authorities and agencies.

Start using COSINE

Open the new COSINE Viewer to access provincial geodetic control.

Geodetic standards and specifications

If you require any of the following documents in a different format, email geodesy@ontario.ca.

Ontario Specification for GPS Control Surveys (PDF): the minimum requirements that must be met for a GPS Control Survey for the Province of Ontario, or for projects that will be included in COSINE

Ontario Specifications and Guidelines for Horizontal Control Surveys (1979) (PDF): the minimum requirements that must be met for a conventional (terrestrial) horizontal control survey for the Province of Ontario, or for projects that will be included in COSINE

Ontario digital levelling vertical control survey specifications (2021): describes the provincial specifications for digital levelling work performed in Ontario for projects that will be included in COSINE.

Guidelines for RTK/RTN GNSS Surveying in Canada (PDF) – Natural Resources Canada

GO-ITS 45.1 NAD83 (North American Datum 1983): This standard describes the North American Datum 1983 (NAD83) as the standard horizontal geodetic datum to be used for all geospatial referencing activities.

GO-ITS 45.2 NTv2 (National Transformation Version 2): This standard describes the National Transformation version 2 (NTv2) methodology to be used to transform geospatial information between the North America Datum 1927 (NAD27) and the North America Datum 1983 (NAD83).

Get advice

We provide advice on:

  • horizontal and vertical control surveys
  • horizontal and vertical geodetic datums
  • technologies for positioning applications such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as Global Positioning System (GPS)
  • geodetic datum and coordinate transformations
  • geodetic data
  • Ontario High Precision Network (OHPN) – A densification of the Canadian Spatial Reference System (CSRS) in Ontario based on the Canadian Base Network (CBN)

For advice, contact us at geodesy@ontario.ca.