| a waterway in SE Ontario, Canada, connecting the Ottawa Riverin Ottawa to Lake Ontario in Kingston. 125 mi. (202 km) long. |
Ri·deau Canal  (rĭ-dō') A waterway, about 203 km (126 mi) long, of southeast Ontario, Canada, connecting the Ottawa River at Ottawa with Lake Ontario at Kingston. It follows the course of the Rideau River for much of its length and was constructed in 1826 to 1832. |
Rideau Canal
inland waterway between the Canadian capital of Ottawa and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ont. Completed in 1832, the 200-km (125-mile) canal uses both the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers and a series of lakes, including Upper Rideau Lake at its summit, to create its waterway. Built as a military project to provide a secure connection between Montreal and Kingston, the canal has been widely used for recreational purposes for the past century. One of the oldest continuously operated canals in North America, with 24 hand-operated lock stations, the Rideau system was listed as a Canadian Heritage River in 2000. The canal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.
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