Inuvialuit Land Claims Survey
Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA)
The IFA was signed in 1984. It represented the first modern treaty between the Federal Government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the Inuvialuit First Nation.
In exchange for ceding, releasing, and surrendering to Canada, all of their aboriginal claims, rights, title, and interests, the Agreement provides the Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic with (among other things):
- title to 91,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) of land
- joint management (with Canada) for land use, wildlife, environmental assessment, and water regulation
- wildlife harvesting rights
- financial compensation of $162 million
- a share of government royalties for oil, gas, and mineral development on Crown Land
The Survey
The survey of the IFA boundaries represented the largest land surveys undertaken in Canada since the establishment of the township system in the prairie provinces and the turn of the century. The boundaries of the claim were defined by meridians of longitude, and chords of parallels of latitude.
The control survey for the boundary was the first to employ GPS positioning technology in Canada. Survey of the boundaries was done using conventional traversing, with monuments being placed at a spacing of no more than 1 Km.
The surveys were carried out from 1985 to 1994. UGL completed 18 of these surveys, and compiled 2/3 of the Final Atlas Plans.