The Rideau Canal

Built between 1826 and 1832, the Rideau Canal is the best preserved, fully operational example of North America’s great canal building era. Lieutenant-Colonel John By’s innovative design used a slackwater system to link lakes and rivers on a scale unprecedented in North America, creating one of the first canals in the world engineered for steam-powered vessels. Constructed through more than 200 kilometres of bush, swamps, and lakes, it was a monumental feat. Each year, as many as 5,000 workers, mainly Irish immigrants and French Canadians, laboured under the supervision of civil contractors and the Royal Engineers in extremely difficult conditions, enduring injury and disease, and hundreds died. Intended as a safe military supply route between Montréal and Lake Ontario as an alternative to the St. Lawrence River, it chiefly served as a key artery for moving goods and people until the 1850s, later became a popular recreational destination in the 20th century, and was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2007.

Ontario · Canada