The Wolfe Island Canal

Adapted from Canals of Canada by Robert Legget

At the other end of Lake Ontario, there may still be seen the remains of yet another comparatively unknown canal venture, this one actuated rather than defeated by the advent of the railways. The key location of Kingston at the eastern end of Lake Ontario was naturally mentioned in connection with the southern end of the Rideau Canal. Facing Kingston in the broad waters of the River St Lawrence as it leaves the lake is Wolfe Island, a narrow island about 14 miles long, separating the river into two main sections about three miles and one mile wide respectively. Some sort of ferry service had operated from the earliest days of settlement between Kingston and Wolfe Island and then from the south side of Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent on the American shore. The importance of this service was increased in the 1830s when Kingston was made the official customs ‘Port of Entry’ from and ‘Port of Exit’ to Cape Vincent for all the Canadian settlements between Cornwall and Port Hope (about 200 miles). The ferry became even more important when the railway reached Cape Vincent. Interested citizens conceived the idea of excavating a canal across Wolfe Island, in order to avoid the nuisance of transshipment. They had a survey made, the route being 24 miles long, naturally with no locks, and prepared a petition that was addressed to the Governor, Sir John Colborne, on 25 February 1834. He commended it to the Legislature but, probably because this was near the time of the troubles (1837), nothing was done.

In 1846 the matter was revived and an Act passed incorporating the Wolfe Island, Kingston and Toronto Railway Company. Its name indicates the hopes behind it but the Act lapsed. Another Act was passed, however, incorporating the Wolfe Island Railway and Canal Company and this company did build the Wolfe Island Canal; it was finished in 1857. To begin with it had a depth of 6 ft, later increased to 7 ft. It was in regular use for the Kingston to Cape Vincent Ferry service for over 20 years but the service was given up before the end of the century and the canal allowed to fill up with weeds. There have been several suggestions, down the years, that it should be cleaned out and dredged again but nothing has been done and so the old canal remains as a strange weed-filled depression across this lovely island, not often even recognized for what it was. The company that constructed it originally has a special interest for Canadians since the great Canadian prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, when a young lawyer in Kingston, was associated with this canal venture.