Numbering starts from the first baseline, located at latitude 49º North (along the United States/Canada border). Township lines are east-west lines parallel to latitude lines.

A Township is defined by a Township line number, a Range line number and a Meridian (ex. Townships are approximately 6 miles by 6 miles in area, and are defined between range lines and township lines. Locations east of the prime meridian are epressed as east of Prime Meridian (ex. Locations are specified as west of a meridian (ex: W5 refers to a location west of 114º and east of 118º West. The surface is referenced firstly to a Meridian: The first (or Prime) meridian is defined at approximately 97º West, the second meridian overlays the 102º West longitude, the third meridian at 106º West, the fourth at 110º West, the fifth meridian at 114º West, the sixth meridian at 118º West. It is used to this day, in spite of abounding inaccuracies and errors stemming from early topographic measurements. The land survey system was introduced in 1910 and was based on the Dominion Land Survey algorithm.

Furthermore, the surface and bottom coordinates of a well are defined as distances from the closest sectionboundary.

This nomenclature is based on the Alberta Township System for wells in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Peace Country in north-western British Columbia. Provincial governments in Western Canada regulate the naming of oil and gas wells, by assigning unique well identifiers(UWID) to each drilled hole. Initially used to define land for agriculture purposes, the system was later adopted in land sales and leases for hydrocarbon exploration rights. The Alberta Township System is a land survey system used in Western Canada to divide land in 1 square mile sections.

Township and range system example