Skip to main content
Ingenium Logo

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

✖


This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

✖


Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Ingenium The Channel

Langue

  • Français
Search Toggle

Menu des liens rapides

  • Ingenium Locations
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join
Menu

Main Navigation

  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners

How the St. Lawrence Seaway made trade go swimmingly in Canada

This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.

Share
Apr 4, 2017
Categories
Business & Economics
Categories
Social Science & Culture
Engineering & Technology
Sciences
Media
Article
Profile picture for user Curious Canada
By: Curious Canada
Victoria Bridge and the St. Lawrence Seaway
Photo Credit
Source: CSTM x-46604
Victoria Bridge and the St. Lawrence Seaway

The St. Lawrence Seaway is a massive system of locks, canals and channels that link the great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. In essence, it’s a trade route that helped anchor Ontario and Quebec as the economic powerhouses they are now.

The seaway became open for commercial use in 1959, costing a total of $470 million dollars – most of which was funded by the federal government. From Montreal to Lake Erie, the creation of the route was a serious undertaking. The National Research Council made models to visualize the project, complete with hydraulic simulacra of waterways. Many highways, roads and small towns had to be relocated to make room for the seaway.

Although there was a very important economic incentive for the system, the NRC learnt a lot from the planning and execution of creating the route. They had to flood 15 thousand hectares so a lot of research went into full-scale burns, in order to raze certain parts along the seaway to the ground. Controlled burns of abandoned communities and their buildings also gave the NRC new insight into fire safety, especially in the context of city planning. They began classifying different kinds of ice and how to break them, as well. All of this consequential research benefitted other countries too, as many safety regulations today are based off research from the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The NRC is still doing research on the seaway to this very day, continuing to discover new properties of ice there, but also on subjects of energy, like hydroelectricity. In 2014, they published a paper on hydrokinetic resources based on their findings from the route. The St. Lawrence Seaway is capable of harnessing hydroelectric power without the use of dams or pentlocks, a feat few countries in the world can lay claim to.

By: Jassi Bedi

Montreal Dock
Photo Credit
Source: CSTM x-45369

Montreal was an important docking port for cargo coming in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Seaway diversion in Montreal.
Photo Credit
Source: CSTM x-46253

Seaway diversion in Montreal.

Tags
Innovation Storybook
Author(s)
Profile picture for user Curious Canada
Curious Canada

Related Stories

A smiling Mrs. Élie Fortin of Montmagny, Québec, accepting the bicycle won by her daughter, Michèle Fortin, in a contest organised by Dulac Potato Chips Incorporated of Sainte-Marie, Québec. Anon., “–.” Le Peuple, 10 May 1963, 10.

A great lady who never let go of the potato: Anne Marie Harmonia Hallé and the Dulac potato chips saga

The Junkers Ju 52 bushplane registered as CF-ARM of Canadian Airways Limited of Montréal, Québec, Manuan Lake, Québec, August or September 1940. CASM, 13469.

Old bushplanes never die, they just fade away: A few lines, all right, many lines on the remarkable career of a Junkers Ju 52 “flying box car” named CF-ARM, part 3

The Junkers Ju 52 bushplane registered as CF-ARM of Canadian Airways Limited of Montréal, Québec. Anon., “Pionnier des transports lourds dans le nord du Canada, le ‘Cargo volant’ a fini sa carrière.” Photo-Journal, 29 January 1948, 2.

Old bushplanes never die, they just fade away: A few lines, all right, many lines on the remarkable career of a Junkers Ju 52 “flying box car” named CF-ARM, part 1

A typical wild and free bullfrog. John J. Brice, editor, A Manual of Fish-Culture: Based on the Methods of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, with Chapters on the Cultivation of Oysters and Frogs (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1897), 258.

“Is a frog game or fish? There is the rub.” A brief look at the history of ranaculture in Canada and Québec, Part 4

A typical advertisement of Giant Frog & Sea Food Limited of Montréal, Québec. Anon., “Giant Frog & Sea Food Limited. La Patrie, 18 October 1952, 53.

“Is a frog game or fish? There is the rub.” A brief look at the history of ranaculture in Canada and Québec, Part 3

Three of the innumerable American bullfrogs found on the frog farm of Harold Lee, Casitas Springs, California. Anon., “Nature – Frog Farm.” Pix, 6 January 1951, 30.

“Is a frog game or fish? There is the rub.” A brief look at the history of ranaculture in Canada and Québec, Part 2

A typical advertisement of Canadian Frog’s Industries Company of Montréal, Québec. Anon., “Canadian Frog’s Industries Company.” La Patrie, 16 November 1952, 86.

“Is a frog game or fish? There is the rub.” A brief look at the history of ranaculture in Canada and Québec, Part 1

A typical advertisement of the Toronto, Ontario, firm William Hood & Company. Anon., “William Hood & Company.” The Canadian Grocer & General Storekeeper, 27 May 1892, 9.

“A new trade winner for grocers and general merchants;” or, How William Hood & Company of Toronto, Ontario, became a pretext to dwell upon the mysteries of... castor oil

Wilfrid-Henri Perron. Claude Asselin, “Une encyclopédie québécoise pour les horticulteurs.” Photo-Journal, 3 to 9 May 1971, 12.

Chez Perron, tout est bon: A giant of Québec and Canadian horticulture, Wilfrid-Henri Perron (1897-1977)

Two hands clasped together, one Black and one white, against a dark grey background.

Talking about racism: A conversation between colleagues

A composite image of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum

Connecting during COVID: How museums are rethinking engagement in a time of physical distancing

A black-and-white photograph showing a line of CF-100 jet aircraft in front of two hangars.

Spice up your Zoom meetings with an image from Ingenium’s Digital Archives!

Footer

About The Channel

The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Channel

    • Channel Home
    • About the Channel
    • Content Partners
  • Visit

    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
    • Canada Aviation and Space Museum
    • Canada Science and Technology Museum
    • Ingenium Centre
  • Ingenium

    • Ingenium Home
    • About Ingenium
    • The Foundation
  • For Media

    • Newsroom
    • Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Sign Up

Legal Bits

Ingenium Privacy Statement

© 2023 Ingenium

Symbol of the Government of Canada
  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners