List of canals in Canada

There exists a number of canals in Canada that are used as aqueducts, diversionary channels for power stations, and for shippings.

A ship passing through the Welland Canal in St. Catharines, 2017

Natural canals

A natural canal exists between the Magaguadavic River and Lake Utopia outside St. George, New Brunswick.

Shipping canals

Active

Canal	Province	Length	Number of locks	Max boat length	Start point	End point	Year opened	Notes
Beauharnois Canal	Quebec	24.5 km (15.2 mi)	2		Lake Saint Francis	Lake Saint-Louis	1932	Later incorporated as a part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Canso Canal	Nova Scotia	0.56 km (0.35 mi)	1	230 m (740 ft)	St. George's Bay	Chedabucto Bay	1955
Carillon Canal	Quebec	21 km (13 mi)	1		Ottawa River	Ottawa River	1830
Chambly Canal	Quebec	20 km (12 mi)	9		Richelieu River (Chambly)	Richelieu River (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu)	1843
Dougall Canal	Ontario	0.8 km (0.50 mi)			Lake Couchiching	Lake Couchiching	c. 1960s	Forms part of the Trent–Severn Waterway
Lachine Canal	Quebec	14.5 km (9.0 mi)	5[note 1]		Saint Lawrence River (Old Port of Montreal)	Lake Saint-Louis	1825
Murray Canal	Ontario	8 km (5.0 mi)			Bay of Quinte	Lake Ontario	1889
Pender Canal	British Columbia	200 m (0.12 mi)			Bedwell Harbour	Port Browning	1903
Rideau Canal	Ontario	202 km (126 mi)	47	27 m (90 ft)	Ottawa River (Ottawa)	Lake Ontario (Kingston)	1832
Saint Lawrence Seaway	Ontario & Quebec[note 2]	600 km (370 mi)	15	230 m (740 ft)	Saint Lawrence River (Old Port of Montreal)	Lake Erie (Port Colborne)	1959
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal	Quebec				Lake Saint-Louis	Lake of Two Mountains	1843
Sault Ste. Marie Canal	Ontario	1.6 km (0.99 mi)	1		St. Marys River	St. Marys River	1895
St. Peters Canal	Nova Scotia	0.8 km (0.50 mi)	1	91 m (300 ft)	Bras d'Or Lake	Atlantic Ocean (St. Peter's)	1869
Tay Canal	Ontario	9.8 km (6.1 mi)	2	27 m (90 ft)	Tay River	Lower Rideau Lake	1891	Currently operated as a part of the Rideau Canal
Trent-Severn Waterway	Ontario	386 km (240 mi)	44	26 m (84 ft)	Georgian Bay (Severn)	Bay of Quinte (Trenton)	1833
Welland Canal	Ontario	43 km (27 mi)	8	230 m (740 ft)	Lake Ontario (St. Catharines)	Lake Erie (Port Colborne)	1829	Later incorporated as a part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway

Abandoned

Canal	Province	Length	Number of locks	Start point	End point	Year opened	Year closed	Notes
Baillie-Grohman Canal	British Columbia	1.5 km (0.93 mi)		Columbia River	Kootenay River	1889	1902
Coteau-du-Lac canal	Quebec	100 m (330 ft)	3			1781
Desjardins Canal	Ontario			Cootes Paradise	Hamilton Harbour	1837	1895
Newmarket Canal	Ontario	16 km (9.9 mi)	3	Lake Simcoe	East Holland River (Newmarket)	—	—	The canal was cancelled during its construction.
Shubenacadie Canal	Nova Scotia	114 km (71 mi)	1[note 3]	Halifax Harbour (Dartmouth)	Cobequid Bay (Maitland)	1856	1871
Soulanges Canal	Quebec		5			1899	1958
Welland Recreational Waterway	Ontario			Welland Canal	Welland Canal		c. 1970s	The waterway formed a part of the original alignment for the Welland Canal that passed Welland, prior to the completion of the Welland By-Pass in the 1970s. Motorboats are prohibited from the Welland Recreational Waterway.

Parts of the Rouge River in Markham, Ontario were being planned by William Berczy in the 1790s as a navigation route between Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario via Holland River but did not progress beyond clearing of 24 miles along the route.^[1]

Other types of canals

Canal	Province	Start point	End point	Notes
Canal de l'Aqueduc	Quebec		City of Montreal pumping station (Pointe-Saint-Charles)	Open-air aqueduct canal used by the city of Montreal.
Kootenay Canal	British Columbia	Kootenay River	Kootenay River	Diversionary canal for the Kootenay Canal hydroelectric plant.
Seton Canal	British Columbia	Seton Lake	Fraser River	Diversionary canal for the Seton Powerhouse.

Notes

1. The Lachine Canal initially had seven locks when it opened. The number of locks was reduced to five during the canal's expansion in the 1840s.
2. Portions of the Saint Lawrence Seaway also extends into the US state of New York.
3. The Shubenacadie Canal initially had nine locks and two inclined planes. The number of operational locks was eventually reduced to one.