W3 = West of 3rd Meridian
The 2nd Meridian is 102° west, forming the northern part of the Manitoba–Saskatchewan boundary
The 3rd Meridian at 106° west, near Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan. Township 31 – Range 8 — West of the Third. Abraham David Swanson homesteaded on the north-west corner of section 30 sometime before 1907.

Each township had 36 sections and had an area of 6 miles by 6 miles. Each section of land was one mile by one mile in size. One section of land has 4 quarter sections . Each quarter section was denoted as north west, north east, south west or south east.