Canadian Soo Locks

Entering the Canadian Soo Locks from below

The Canadian lock tour operates on a smaller scale than the American tour, with one boat, and a shorter season. Both tours take the same route on their two-hour trips, going through locks on both the American and Canadian sides, going under the International Bridge, and passing Algoma Steel. Because the tour starts on the Sault Ontario waterfront, you see more of it up close. There's also a dinner cruise ($46 Canadian, $32.35 U.S.) that gets you out on the water at a beautiful time.

The first Canadian lock was built in 1798 by the Northwest Trading Company. It was destroyed by U.S. forces during the War of 1812. The subsequent 1895 lock was once the largest lock in the world. The current 1998 lock is used by recreational boats.

Historic buildings of sandstone from digging the mile-long canal include the administration building, the superintendent's residence, the canalmen's shelter, the powerhouse, and the blacksmith shop.

Return to Sault Ste. Marie Canada

SAULT STE. MARIE CANADA
POINTS OF INTEREST

Agawa Canyon Tour Train and Snow Train. 114 miles up into the wilderness, with panoramas viewed from the comfort of a passenger train ... more

Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site. A close-up look, with historical and technological perspective, at the 1895 Canadian canal, built next to but well after the American locks ... more

Canadian Soo Locks. Less famous than the much bigger American locks, there's still a rich, more visible history on the Canadian side ... more

St. Mary's River Boardwalk. A beautiful mile-long downtown riverfront boardwalk, dotted with fishing platforms and interpretive markers about key events in area history ... more

Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. In a 1940s hanger, see the planes that pioneered fighting forest fires from the air ... more

Ermatinger/Clergue Heritage Site. An 1814 stone house, once a fur trading post, has been brought back to life with period furnishings and costumed interpreters ... more

Art Gallery of Algoma. Stimulating art (24 shows/year) and a cool museum shop and sculpture garden in a beautiful riverfront setting. ... more

Sault Ste. Marie Museum. In an unusual and interesting 1906 post office, tour a museum that illuminates local Indian, maritime, military, and industrial history ... more

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