Rideau Canal National Historic Site of Canada

The Rideau Canal, a major military engineering achievement of the 19th century, opened central Canada to settlement and trade and helped shape the community of Bytown, now Ottawa, by bringing thousands of people to the area during its construction. Its entrance locks begin a 202-kilometre route linking the Ottawa River and Lake Ontario through lakes and rivers made navigable by channels, locks, and dams built by workers. Designed for military purposes and completed in 1832, the canal was never used for defence. Today it serves recreational boating and is operated by Parks Canada as a national historic site. Lieutenant Colonel John By led the project, tasked with creating a waterway through nearly impenetrable rock and swamp, and despite harsh climate, rising costs, and widespread disease, completed it in six years through leadership, determination, and technical ingenuity. Engineers used explosives to blast channels through the rocks of the Canadian Shield, but more than 2,000 workers using picks, shovels, chisels, and mallets performed the hardest labor, and hundreds died from accident, disease, and cold.

Ontario · Canada