Which canal connects Ottawa, Ontario, with Lake Ontario at Kingston?

The Rideau Canal connects Ottawa, Ontario, with Lake Ontario at Kingston.

The 202-kilometre waterway links the Ottawa River at Ottawa to the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario near Kingston. It combines purpose-built canal cuts with naturally occurring rivers and lakes, including the Rideau Lakes system. Most of the route is a controlled waterway rather than a continuously excavated channel.

Construction began in 1826 under Lieutenant-Colonel John By and was completed in 1832. Britain planned it after the War of 1812 as a secure military supply route that could bypass the vulnerable St. Lawrence River rapids between Montreal and Kingston.

Commercial shipping later declined as railways and the St. Lawrence Seaway became more efficient, but the canal remains a popular seasonal boating route operated by Parks Canada. It is also famous for Ottawa’s winter skating surface and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The Trent-Severn Waterway is a separate Ontario route.