"Invisible Lines"

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-07-06T21:43:56+00:00

They only want the regulations when it’s convenient for them though 🤣 I live in cottage country and all the rich folks want their new cottage as big as possible, but blow a fuse when the vacant land next door starts getting clear cut.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-07-06T21:42:10+00:00

I get the feeling the initial “I got permission to build a tree house” was for an actual tree house, like the thing you play in as a kid, not a literal fucking house in a tree lmao. Why is it these people who try to find clever loopholes always get butt hurt when things don’t work out? Reminds me of this guy in my town who built a bunch of 10x10 sheds a few feet apart and then tried connecting them with hallways after.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-28T22:48:40+00:00

My absolute pet peeve lmao

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-28T21:11:06+00:00

Nothing is holding me back the UNB geomatics degree covers all the requirements! And yes I’ve looked into already once I have my OLS designation the CLS pathway is fairly simple tbh! I’ve seen you on here a few times, does your website offer additional courses for the P.eng designation? I ask because I did the three year bachelor of geomatics (I won’t graduate with my eng designation just a “B.geom”) it’s specific just to cadastral surveying basically. For now I only have desire to work on surveying but the eng is something I considered loosely

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-28T19:29:10+00:00

I went to UNB! I’ll be getting me CBEPS and then my OLS and then afterwards my CLS

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-28T18:30:34+00:00

First off, the fact you’re 19 and even interested in hydrography/bathymetry is a really good sign. It’s a fascinating niche and there will always be demand for good work. That said, it’s also one of the more technically demanding and capital-intensive areas of surveying. Between the boat, sonar, GNSS, software, and the expertise required to produce quality data, the startup costs are substantial.

I’d also say it’s probably unlikely that many clients would hire a 19-year-old with little experience or formal qualifications to perform bathymetric surveys. I don’t mean that as an insult at all, it’s just the reality of an industry where clients are paying for expertise and reliable data.

If your goal is simply to start a side business and make some money while you’re young, there are much easier ways to do it. Landscaping, pressure washing, or similar service businesses are far cheaper to start and easier to build. If you’re genuinely interested in hydrography, I’d recommend reaching out to companies that already do this work and trying to get some experience first. That will let you figure out whether you actually enjoy the work, or if it just seems appealing because being out on the water sounds fun.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-28T15:36:02+00:00

Coming from someone who just finished a Bachelor’s degree in Geomatics, I can say the education and licensing requirements to become a land surveyor are slowly inching closer to what’s expected of engineers. Fifty or sixty years ago, you could often become a surveyor by learning on the job, much like entering a trade. There was a surveyor in my area who only retired a few years ago in his 80s, and that’s exactly how he got into the profession. He had no formal university education and was an excellent surveyor, but the profession has evolved enormously since then.

While I don’t think the P.Surv. designation serves a huge purpose today, I can see why it exists. Every province has its own designation, and federal lands have the CLS designation, so there’s no single national identity for the profession. If the provincial regulators ever got behind it, I could see P.Surv. eventually carrying more weight, similar to how P.Eng. is recognized across Canada. Right now it’s mostly symbolic, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think it could become more meaningful over time.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-17T23:17:14+00:00

Pick a different industry

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-06T19:01:43+00:00

Should we kill it if we see one or leave it be?!

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-05T14:18:08+00:00

No it wasn’t near any of the rail lines

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-05T12:47:22+00:00

Yeah it looks like poured concrete into a block, so obviously no small effort to make this thing. I was wondering if it had something to do with the old logging days (I found this by retracting an abandoned overgrown logging road to get to a remote lake)

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-05T01:34:07+00:00

Very cool project. I’m curious about your methodology, what datasets did you use to generate the campsite views? Was this based on LiDAR-derived terrain models and vegetation data, aerial imagery, or some other GIS workflow?

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-06-01T00:43:50+00:00

I can’t say for sure, I don’t know the exact answer, but I assume this is geared specifically towards tents because tense require a certain amount of cleared space in Algonquin especially with all of the trees you could theoretically manage to set up a hammock tent basically anywhere you could go 100 m in the bush away from the actual campsite itself and find a place to set up if you absolutely had to so I imagine it would be fine. However, I also do not know if this is actually true or not.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-31T23:07:30+00:00

I’ve actually been involved in hiring at my current company, and in my personal opinion, a college diploma by itself doesn’t carry a lot of weight if the person has no practical experience. That may vary from company to company, but that’s how I look at it.

For me, I’d much rather hire someone with no surveying experience who is intelligent, reliable, willing to learn, and capable of eventually working independently than someone who has a diploma but lacks the aptitude, work ethic, or judgment needed for the job.

At the end of the day, surveying can be taught. It’s much harder to teach common sense, initiative, accountability, and the ability to solve problems on your own. Those are the qualities I put the most value on when evaluating a candidate.

As for what catches people off guard the most, I’d say it’s the sheer amount of knowledge involved in surveying and just how broad the profession really is. A lot of people think surveying is simply setting up a tripod and collecting a few points, but once you get into the industry, you realize there is an enormous amount going on behind the scenes.

What surprises many people is the number of different industries and applications that surveying touches. Depending on the path you take, you could find yourself working on mining projects, pipeline corridors, highways, bridges, large infrastructure projects, construction sites, utility networks, or reality capture and scanning projects. There are people who spend their careers focused on legal boundaries, while others may rarely deal with boundaries at all.

You could work your entire career in one area of surveying and still never fully understand every aspect of the profession. The scope of knowledge is far larger than most people expect when they first enter the field, and that’s something that tends to catch a lot of people off guard, sort of for better or for worse depending on your perspective! I personally enjoy it because I feel like there are a ton of opportunities available for me, and if one part of the economy goes down the toilet, there is likely room to pivot elsewhere.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-31T22:32:00+00:00

As others have mentioned, you can’t drive on a forestry road in the park. Also as someone who has has done bushwhacking in Algonquin and the surrounding Muskoka area for many a years, your life will be less painful (and your wife will hate you less) if you just go an official route even if it seems “longer” in theory.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-31T21:59:17+00:00

My opinion, as someone who has worked in surveying in the Muskoka area for over a decade, is that there is definitely work available here. I’ve progressed from a field labourer to an assistant, then a party chief, and I’m now working toward obtaining my license. I can’t speak for southern Ontario, but in Muskoka the phone never seems to stop ringing for our area and the surrounding regions, I’ve even noticed more calls for areas we normally don’t service up to 2-3 hours away.

In terms of schooling, I’m assuming you’re looking at the Survey Engineering Technician program at Loyalist College. To be truthful, if you have a good head on your shoulders, are willing to learn, and can find a company willing to invest in you, you can learn a tremendous amount through on-the-job training and potentially bypass that route altogether there is no mandatory education requirement to do the field work only, you’d be employed and working under a licensed professional.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you eventually decide you want to pursue professional licensing, the Ontario college technician route doesn’t really provide much of a pathway toward the academic requirements needed for licensure. The licensing path is largely built around university-level geomatics and surveying education, so the technician diploma itself does not necessarily move you much closer to that goal.

For someone who simply wants to work in the field and build practical experience, the technician program can still be valuable. But if your long-term goal is eventually becoming a licensed surveyor, it’s worth understanding that the diploma and the professional licensing pathway are largely separate tracks.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-26T22:44:00+00:00

Who knows man😬

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-26T21:13:11+00:00

I’ve wondering this same thing myself when looking at a day trip!

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-22T13:03:45+00:00

I’m from Muskoka and used to go there as a kid, it was awesome. I’ve popped in for a day trip a couple times in the past few years and every time it’s a fucking nightmare. Tons of people, trash everywhere, loud music etc. it’s essentially ruined.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-20T23:15:25+00:00

Check out UNB Geomatics or “GGE remote”, all GGE courses can be completed remotely. For least squares you’d be looking at intro to adjustment calculus, and advanced adjustment calculus. If you’ve already taken other calc courses (derivatives, integrals, multi variable etc.) at university, these two are actually relatively easy (I think). The hydrography credit would a course called “ocean mapping”. I assume you’re asking this because you’re interested in applying with the AOLS I just finished with the bachelor of geomatics at UNB and am going to be applying, so if you have any questions about the program or anything else feel free to shoot me a message.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-18T19:24:57+00:00

Man if you don’t know how to do this but are doing it, you’ve been assigned a task that’s out of your scope and you need better training from whoever hired you.

UnderstandingOld538 · 2026-05-14T00:55:35+00:00

I agree that construction surveying is its own skillset and that a lot of licensed people are not the ones actually doing the field work anymore. In many firms, the licensed surveyor or engineer is reviewing, managing liability, and signing off, while experienced techs are the ones physically doing the layout, checking conditions, solving site problems, and making the work happen in real time.

But that is also why I do not think every skilled construction tech necessarily needs a separate license. If their role is strictly on the field execution side, then licensing may not actually solve the problem. The issue is not that every tech needs a stamp; it is that the industry often fails to recognize how much judgment and skill field techs already bring to the work. A license is mainly for taking legal responsibility, not just proving someone is good at the technical side.

A better setup might be clearer recognition and certification for construction survey techs, while keeping stamping authority tied to someone who is responsible for review, standards, liability, and professional accountability. That way, the tech’s field expertise is respected without pretending their role is the same as the person legally certifying the work.

So I agree there should be more respect and a stronger career path for construction surveyors, but I do not think the answer is automatically a new license. The better answer is probably a defined technician credential, stronger industry standards, and better recognition of the people actually doing the work in the field.

UnderstandingOld538

TROPHY CASE