Este monumental canal de principios del siglo XIX se extiende a lo largo de 202 kilómetros por los cursos de los ríos Rideau y Cataraqui, siguiendo una trayectoria sur, desde Ottawa hasta el puerto de Kingston, situado en el lago Ontario. Se construyó con fines principalmente militares y estratégicos, en una época en que la Gran Bretaña y los Estados Unidos de América se disputaban el control de la región. Fue uno de los primeros canales diseñados ex profeso para la navegación de barcos de vapor y posee un conjunto importante de fortificaciones. De todas las vías de agua de América de Norte creadas con el sistema ”slackwater“ es la mejor conservada y las mí¡s ilustrativa de la utilización a gran escala de esta técnica europea en la región. Asimismo, es el único canal del periodo de auge de estas obras de ingeniería en América del Norte –principios del siglo XIX– que no sólo sigue siendo operacional a lo largo de todo su recorrido primitivo, sino que ademí¡s conserva intactas casi todas sus estructuras primigenias.

Valor universal excepcional en inglés

The Rideau Canal is a large strategic canal constructed for military purposes which played a crucial contributory role in allowing British forces to defend the colony of Canada against the United States of America, leading to the development of two distinct political and cultural entities in the north of the American continent, which can be seen as a significant stage in human history. Criterion (i): The Rideau Canal remains the best preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America demonstrating the use of European slackwater technology in North America on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century that remains operational along its original line with most of its original structures intact. Criterion (iv): The Rideau Canal is an extensive, well preserved and significant example of a canal which was used for a military purpose linked to a significant stage in human history - that of the fight to control the north of the American continent. The nominated property includes all the main elements of the original canal together with relevant later changes in the shape of watercourses, dams, bridges, fortifications, lock stations and related archaeological resources. The original plan of the canal, as well as the form of the channels, has remained intact. The Rideau Canal has fulfilled its original dynamic function as an operating waterway without interruption since its construction. Most of its lock gates and sluice valves are still operated by hand-powered winches. All the elements of the nominated area (canal, associated buildings and forts) are protected as national historic sites under the Historic Sites and Monuments Act 1952-3. A buffer zone has been established. Repairs and conservation of the locks, dams, canal walls and banks are carried out directly under the control of Parks Canada. Each year one third of the canal's assets are thoroughly inspected by engineers. A complete inventory thus exists of the state of conservation of all parts of the property. A Management Plan exists for the canal (completed in 1996 and updated in 2005), and plans are nearing completion for Fort Henry and the Kingston fortifications. The Canal Plan is underpinned by the Historic Canals Regulations which provide an enforcement mechanism for any activities that might impact on the cultural values of the monument.