Ottawa — Bytown, Parliament & the Rideau Canal
Ottawa Locks — Rideau Canal
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
These eight locks are the reason Ottawa is here. The Rideau Canal was built between 1826 and 1832 as a military supply route connecting the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario while avoiding the exposed St. Lawrence.
Lieutenant-Colonel John By used a “slackwater” engineering approach, damming rivers and lakes rather than excavating one continuous ditch. Parks Canada describes the canal as one of the best-preserved working canals from North America's great canal-building era.
The engineering achievement came at a human cost. Thousands of labourers worked on the system, and malaria and other diseases killed many.
The canal never had to perform the invasion-defence role its planners feared. Instead it became a commercial route and later a recreational waterway.
Governments build for one future and history often supplies another.