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98-620: The parkway runs along the Rideau Canal from the end of Sussex Drive at Rideau Street . It then continues 8 km (5.0 mi) south and west to Hog's Back Road , winding through several residential areas and going past Dow's Lake and Carleton University . To the north, the road passes Department of National Defence Headquarters , the Ottawa Congress Centre and the Westin Hotel before ending at Rideau Street . The rear door of

196-556: A lock system that is still fully functioning. The gates that let boats in and out of the locks last approximately 12–15 years. When the canal was constructed, the gates were made at the lock sites by carpenters and blacksmiths, but presently they are made in Smiths Falls , Ontario, and sometimes it takes up to two months to build a set of gates. The gates used on the Rideau Canal are made of Douglas Fir and are mitre-shaped to ensure

294-522: A boat up to 33.5 m (109 ft 11 in) in length by 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) in width can be handled. Four blockhouses were built from 1826 to 1832 to provide protection for the canal which was under the control of the British Forces : A fifth blockhouse at Burritts Rapids was partially built in 1832 before work was stopped with only the foundation and walls completed, then rebuilt in 1914–1915 and finally demolished to be replaced by

392-415: A common occurrence. On average, Quebec City receives 1,190 millimetres (46.85 in) of precipitation, of which 899 millimetres (35.39 in) is rain and 303 millimetres (11.93 in) is the melt from 316 centimetres (124.4 in) of snowfall per annum. The city experiences around 1,916 hours of bright sunshine annually or 41.5% of possible sunshine, with summer being the sunniest, but also slightly

490-510: A land area of 452.3 km (174.6 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,214.8/km (3,146.3/sq mi) in 2021. According to Statistics Canada, there were 839,311 people residing in the Quebec City census metropolitan area. In 2016, 20.6% of the resident population in Quebec City was of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 16.9% in Canada. The median age

588-566: A lower percentage of Indigenous Canadians (1.8%) than the national average of 5.0%. The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 45,230 persons or 8.5% of the total population of Quebec City. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were France (7,360 persons or 16.3%), Colombia (2,865 persons or 6.3%), Morocco (2,715 persons or 6.0%), Ivory Coast (2,500 persons or 5.5%), Cameroon (2,225 persons or 4.9%), Algeria (1,920 persons or 4.2%), Tunisia (1,795 persons or 4.0%), Democratic Republic of

686-578: A military route and incorporating 47 locks, 16 lakes, two rivers, and a 360-foot-long (110 m), 60-foot-high (18.3 m) dam at Jones Falls ( Jones Falls Dam ), was completed in 1832. Other plaques to the canal erected by the Ontario Heritage Trust are at Kingston Mills, Smiths Falls, and Rideau Lakes. The 202 kilometres (126 mi) of the Rideau Canal incorporate sections of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers, as well as several lakes, including

784-644: A misconception that workers were buried in unmarked graves). Some of the dead remain unidentified as they had no known relatives in Upper Canada. Memorials have been erected along the canal route, most recently the Celtic Cross memorials in Ottawa , Kingston and Chaffeys Lock. The first memorial on the Rideau Canal acknowledging deaths among the labour force was erected in 1993 by the Kingston and District Labour Council and

882-587: A new route was planned that would proceed westward from Montreal along the St. Lawrence, north along the Ottawa River to the mouth of the Rideau River, later the site of Bytown (now Ottawa ), then southwest via canal to Kingston and out into Lake Ontario. The Rideau would form the last portion of this route, along with shorter canals at Grenville , Chute-à-Blondeau and Carillon to bypass rapids and other hazards along

980-948: A number of accounting and law firms have moved since the 2000s. Other suburban places identified by the city for their potential are the Lebourgneuf area for private offices, as well as Estimauville Street where the Government of Canada already has many civil servants and where several city officials are expected to move in the 2020s. Quebec City is known for its Winter Carnival , its summer music festival and its Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations. The Jardin zoologique du Québec , now closed, reopened in 2002 after extensive repairs before ultimately shutting permanently in 2006. It featured 750 specimens of 300 different species of animals. The zoo specialized in winged fauna and garden themes but also featured several species of mammals. While it emphasized Quebec's indigenous fauna, one of its main attractions

1078-535: A significant stage in human history – that of the fight to control the north of the American continent. A plaque was erected by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board at Jones Falls Lockstation commemorating Lieutenant Colonel John By, Royal Engineer, the superintending engineer in charge of the construction of the Rideau Canal. The plaque notes the 123-mile-long (198 km) Rideau Canal, built as

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1176-629: A slackwater canal system using dams to raise the water level to sink rapids instead of constructing new channels around them. This was a better approach as it required fewer workers, was more cost effective, and would have been easier to build. The canal work started in the fall of 1826, and it was completed by the spring of 1832. The first full steamboat transit of the canal was made by Robert Drummond's steamboat, Rideau (aka "Pumper"), leaving Kingston on May 22, 1832, with Colonel By and family on board, and arriving in Bytown on May 29, 1832. The final cost of

1274-529: A tight seal due to water pressure. The average Rideau Canal lock lift uses 1.3 million litres (1,300 m ; 1,700 cu yd or 290,000 imp gal; 340,000 US gal) of water. In normal operations the canal can handle boats up to 27.4 m (89 ft 11 in) in length, 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in) in width, and 6.7 m (22 ft) in height with a draft of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) (boats drafting over 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). In special circumstances

1372-631: A woody area attested as Coteau Sainte-Geneviève  [ fr ] . The area was affected by the 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake . The administrative region in which it is situated is officially referred to as Capitale-Nationale , and the term "national capital" is used to refer to Quebec City itself at the provincial level. Quebec City is classified as a hemiboreal humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb , Trewartha Dcbc ). Quebec City experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and occasionally hot, with periods of hotter temperatures which compounded with

1470-467: Is Québec and the province is le Québec ; "in Quebec City" is à Québec and "in the province of Quebec" is au Québec ; and so forth. The Algonquian people had originally named the area Kébec , an Algonquin word meaning "where the river narrows", because the Saint Lawrence River narrows proximate to the promontory of Quebec and its Cape Diamant . Quebec City is one of

1568-434: Is 43.3 years of age compared to 41.2 years of age for Canada as a whole. In the five years between 2011 and 2016, the population of Quebec City grew by 3%. In 2021, 9.4% of Quebec City residents reported visible minority status, a relatively low figure for a large Canadian city; the national average was 26.5%. The largest visible minority group were Black Canadians , who formed 4.1% of the population. Quebec City also had

1666-624: Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . It is named for the Rideau River, which was in turn named for Rideau Falls . The name Rideau , French for "curtain", is derived from the curtain-like appearance of the falls where they join the Ottawa River. After the War of 1812 , information was received about the United States ' plans to invade the British colony of Upper Canada from upstate New York by following

1764-560: Is also the domicile of the sole manufactory of the cigarette maker Rothmans, Benson & Hedges . While the traditional central business districts and their large office buildings are found on Parliament Hill (especially for provincial administration) and just below in Saint-Roch (nowadays notable for IT and the video game industry), a newer one has emerged in the Boulevard Laurier  [ fr ] area of Sainte-Foy , where

1862-559: Is home to the earliest known French settlement in North America, Fort Charlesbourg-Royal , established in 1541 by explorer Jacques Cartier with some 400 persons but abandoned less than a year later due to the harsh winter and resistance of indigenous inhabitants to colonial incursion on their land. The fort was at the mouth of the Rivière du Cap Rouge , in the suburban former town of Cap-Rouge (which merged into Quebec City in 2002). Quebec

1960-455: Is one of the oldest European settlements in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec ( Vieux-Québec ) are the only fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of Mexico . This area was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the "Historic District of Old Québec". Common English-language usage distinguishes the city from the province by referring to

2058-493: Is opened for the season. The Rideau Canal Skateway is maintained by the NCC ( National Capital Commission ). The ice is maintained by crews 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The snow and ice shavings are cleared off the surface every day and the ice surface is flooded each night with a "water dispersion machine" (weather permitting) to fill in any cracks caused by the contracting and expanding ice. There are approximately 20 holes along

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2156-504: Is the city's largest institutional employer, with more than 10,000 employees in 2007. The unemployment rate in June 2018 was 3.8%, below the national average (6.0%) and the second-lowest of Canada's 34 largest cities, behind Peterborough (2.7%). Around 10% of jobs are in manufacturing. Principal products include pulp and paper, processed food, metal/wood items, chemicals, electronics and electrical equipment, and printed materials. The city hosts

2254-430: The 2021 census , religious groups in Quebec City included: Most jobs in Quebec City are concentrated in public administration, defence, services, commerce, transport and tourism. As the provincial capital, the city benefits from being a regional administrative and services centre: apropos, the provincial government is the largest employer in the city, employing 27,900 people as of 2007. CHUQ (the local hospital network)

2352-540: The Acadian settlement at Port-Royal was established three years earlier, Quebec came to be known as the cradle of North America's Francophone population. The location seemed favourable to the establishment of a permanent colony. The population of the settlement remained small for decades. In 1629 it was captured by English privateers , led by David Kirke , during the Anglo-French War . Samuel de Champlain argued that

2450-577: The Caledonian Canal in Scotland . In 2000 the Rideau Waterway was designated a Canadian Heritage River in recognition of its outstanding historical and recreational values. In 2007 it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognizing it as a work of human creative genius. The Rideau Canal was recognized as the best preserved example of a slack water canal in North America demonstrating

2548-623: The Citadelle of Quebec began in 1820. The Americans did not attack Canada after the War of 1812, but the Citadelle continued to house a large British garrison until 1871. It is still in use by the military and is also a tourist attraction. Until the late 18th century Québec was the most populous city in present-day Canada. As of the census of 1790, Montreal surpassed it with 18,000 inhabitants, but Quebec, which had about 14,000 of population at that time, remained

2646-661: The Rideau River to the Rideau Lakes , and from there drop 50 metres (164 feet) downstream along the Cataraqui River to Kingston. The Rideau Canal opened in 1832 for commercial shipping. Freight was eventually moved to railways and the St. Lawrence Seaway , but the canal remains in use today for pleasure boating, operated by Parks Canada from May through October. It is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America, and

2744-547: The Senate of Canada Building can be accessed from the street as well, after it passes under the Mackenzie King Bridge . It is named for Lieutenant-Colonel John By , who supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal. The winding two-lane road had a speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph) for its entire length, until in 2022 the stretch from Bronson Avenue to Daly Avenue was reduced to 40 km/h (25 mph). For many decades

2842-577: The St. Lawrence River . This would have severed the lifeline between Montreal and a major naval base at Kingston. To protect against such an attack in the future, the British began the construction or reinforcement of a number of defences including Citadel Hill in Halifax , La Citadelle in Quebec City , and Fort Henry in Kingston. In 1816, Sir Joshua Jebb completed a survey for a canal offering access to

2940-476: The metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is the twelfth -largest city and the seventh -largest metropolitan area in Canada. It is also the second-largest city in the province, after Montreal . It has a humid continental climate with warm summers coupled with cold and snowy winters. Explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a French settlement here in 1608, and adopted the Algonquin name. Quebec City

3038-562: The Canadian heartland. However, his plan was not followed by Colonel By in building the Rideau Canal ; By had chosen a route between the Ottawa River and Kingston where Lake Ontario flows into the Saint Lawrence River . In 1819, Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond , who was the Governor-in-Chief of British North America , planned to make an inspection of the planned route for

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3136-631: The Canal. However, Richmond had been bitten by a fox, and died in a settlement near Richmond after experiencing symptoms of rabies. Richmond had earlier convinced the Duke of Wellington , at the time Master-General of the Ordnance , to become interested in the project. On 1 March, 1819, Wellington wrote a memorandum which, in part, advocated that the Rideau Canal should be built as part of the defence system for Canada. To ensure safe passage between Montreal and Kingston,

3234-460: The Canals and Recreational Destinations series. The stamps were designed by Carey George and Dean Martin, based on paintings by Vincent McIndoe. In 2014, the canal appeared on a $ 2.50 international rate stamp as part of a Canada Post set honoring World Heritage Sites. The same design was reprised on a 2016 domestic-rate stamp. In 1993, British Waterways and Parks Canada agreed to twin the canal with

3332-527: The Commissariat Building has housed the Bytown Museum since 1917. Parliament Hill was intended to be the site of a fortress, to be called Citadel Hill, where the canal ended at the Ottawa River. In winter, a section of the Rideau Canal passing through central Ottawa becomes officially the world's largest and second longest skating rink . The cleared length is 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) and has

3430-472: The Congo (1,315 persons or 1,315%), Haiti (1,120 persons or 2.5%), and Brazil (1,115 persons or 2.5%). The great majority of city residents are native French speakers. The English-speaking community peaked in relative terms during the 1860s, when 40% of Quebec City's residents were Anglophone . Today, native Anglophones make up only about 1.5% of the population of both the city and its metropolitan area. However,

3528-614: The English , but was successfully defended. In the last of the conflicts, the French and Indian War ( Seven Years' War ), Quebec was captured by the British in 1759, and held until the end of the war in 1763. In that time many battles and sieges took place: the Battle of Beauport , a French victory (31 July 1759); the Battle of the Plains of Abraham , in which British troops under General James Wolfe defeated

3626-565: The English seizing of French lands was illegal as the war had already ended, and worked to have them returned to France. As part of the ongoing negotiations following the end of the Anglo-French War, in 1632 the English king Charles I agreed to return captured lands in exchange for Louis XIII paying his wife's dowry . These terms were signed into law with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . The colonies of Canada and Acadia were returned to

3724-465: The French Company of One Hundred Associates . In 1665, there were 550 people in 70 houses living in the city. One-quarter of the people were members of religious orders: secular priests, Jesuits, Ursulines nuns and the order running the local hospital, Hôtel-Dieu. Quebec was the headquarters of many raids against New England during the French and Indian Wars . In 1690 the city was attacked by

3822-511: The French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on 13 September 1759, and shortly thereafter took the city after a short siege. A French counterattack saw a French victory at the Battle of Sainte-Foy (28 April 1760) but the subsequent second Siege of Quebec the following month however saw a final British victory. France ceded New France , including the city, to Britain in 1763, when the French and Indian War officially ended. At

3920-560: The French River and Georgian Bay , thereby enabling traffic on the upper Great Lakes to use canals all the way to Montreal and avoid shipping through the entire lakes system. This plan eventually emerged as the Trent-Severn Waterway . It had originally been surveyed as a military route but never built. A simpler plan was to route around the dangerous parts of the St. Lawrence to allow direct shipping from Kingston to Montreal, and this

4018-549: The Great Lakes. It was also used by tens of thousands of immigrants from the British Isles heading westward into Upper Canada in this period. It was a major route for shipping heavy goods (timber, minerals, grain) from Canada's hinterland east to Montreal. Hundreds of barge loads of goods were shipped each year along the Rideau; in 1841, for instance, some 19 steamboats, 3 self-propelled barges, and 157 unpowered or tow barges used

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4116-472: The Lower, Upper and Big Rideau lakes. About 19 km (12 mi) of the route is artificial. Communities along the waterway include Ottawa , Manotick , Kars , Burritts Rapids , Merrickville , Smiths Falls , Rideau Ferry , Portland , Westport , Newboro , Seeleys Bay and Kingston . Communities connected by navigable waterways to the Rideau Canal include Kemptville and Perth . Since World War I and

4214-477: The NCC. The ideal ("very good") conditions mean there are "a limited number of pressure cracks", the ice is very hard and durable overall, the ice surface is clean and smooth, there are a "limited number of rough areas", and there is a "very good gliding surface." Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec . As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and

4312-695: The Ontario Heritage Foundation at Kingston Mills . Three canal era cemeteries are open to the public today: Chaffey's Cemetery and Memory Wall at Chaffey's Lock—this cemetery was used from 1825 to the late 19th century; the Royal Sappers and Miners Cemetery (originally called the Military and Civilian Cemetery and then as the Old Presbyterian Cemetery) near Newboro—used from 1828 to the 1940s; and McGuigan Cemetery near Merrickville—used from

4410-668: The Rideau Canal Skateway opens in January and closes in March. Because of global warming , the region's average winter temperature has risen at an accelerating rate since the 1970s, which has gradually pushed back the opening day of skating and shortened the skating season. In 1971–1972, the Skateway's second winter, the skating season was 90 days long, which was its longest season. By 2022–23, warm temperatures combined with snow and rain led to

4508-525: The Rideau Canal was rebranded as "the world's largest skating rink". The Rideau Canal Skateway was added to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005 for being the largest naturally frozen ice rink in the world. As of 2023, the Streetview feature of Google Maps allows you to "skate" the length of the skateway. The Skateway is open 24 hours a day. The length of the season depends on the weather, but typically

4606-676: The Rideau Canal. The canal had to compete with the Erie Canal through New York State. Some of the shipments that might have been made from Kingston east, instead were taken to the opposite side of the St. Lawrence River to Oswego, New York . There they traveled by the Oswego Canal to reach the Erie and, via the Hudson River , New York City markets. Businessmen in Kingston studied the issue. They considered building another canal to Lake Simcoe and on to

4704-555: The Rideau forms part of the Great Loop , a major waterway route connecting a large area of the eastern United States and Canada. As many as one thousand of the workers died during the construction of the canal. Most deaths were from disease, principally complications from malaria ( P. vivax ), which was endemic in Ontario within the range of the Anopheles mosquito, and other diseases of

4802-420: The Rideau was not put to defensive use, it played a pivotal role in the early development of Canada and encouraged shipping, trade, and settlement of Upper Canada by tens of thousands of immigrants. The canal was easier to navigate than the St. Lawrence River because of significant rapids in the river between Montreal and Kingston. As a result, the Rideau Canal became a busy commercial artery between Montreal and

4900-477: The Saint Lawrence River which gave rise to industries of wooden sailing ships manufacture, export of squared timber logs . to Europe, as wall as associated enterprises such as sawmills . However, by the 1870s, Québec City entered a period of economic decline. Contributing factors included the rise of steel-hulled steamships, the expansion of railroads at the expense of waterways for continental commerce;

4998-403: The Skateway starts as early as mid-October. At the end of the boating season, the water is drained at the Ottawa locks near Parliament by Parks Canada. Facilities on the ice such as shelters, chalets, and access ramps for vehicles are then installed. Next, "beams are placed at the locks, and the water is raised to skating level." After this step, the essentials are added such as stairs to access

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5096-412: The St. Lawrence River. In the 1950s it was developed as the current Saint Lawrence Seaway , which allowed ocean-going ships access to the Great Lakes. After the arrival of railway routes into Ottawa, most use of the canal was for pleasure craft. The introduction of the outboard motor led to an increase in small pleasure craft and increasing use of inland waterways like the Rideau and Trent-Severn. Today

5194-520: The administrative capital of the former New France. It was then made the capital of Lower Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791 . From 1841 to 1867, the capital of the Province of Canada rotated between Kingston , Montreal , Toronto , Ottawa and Quebec City (from 1851 to 1855 and from 1859 to 1865). The city experienced an economic golden age in the 1800s, due to its favorable location on

5292-498: The area east of the canal had held Ottawa's main rail lines connecting to the Ottawa Union Station near the northern end of the canal. In 1966, rail service was controversially relocated to the new Ottawa Station about 3 km (1.9 mi) southeast in an industrial area in the east end of the city as part of an urban renewal plan , leaving the area on the eastern bank of the canal open for development. The Colonel By Drive

5390-402: The canal actually opened. Although some residents of Ottawa used the canal as an impromptu skating surface for years, the official use of the canal as a skateway and tourist attraction is a more recent innovation. As recently as 1970, however, city government of Ottawa considered paving over the canal to make an expressway . The federal government's ownership of the canal, however, prevented

5488-471: The canal the first weekend. Today the skating area of the canal is larger because of the equipment available for ice resurfacing and 24/7 maintenance crews. The skateway now has an average of one million visits per year. City councillor and author Clive Doucet credits this transformation of the canal with reinvigorating the communities of the Glebe , Old Ottawa East and Old Ottawa South . The preparation for

5586-474: The canal's construction was £ 822,804 when all the costs, including land acquisition, were accounted for (January 1834). Because of the unexpected cost overruns, John By was recalled to London and was retired; he received no accolades or recognition for his tremendous accomplishment. Since the canal was completed, no further military engagements have taken place between Canada and the United States. Although

5684-608: The city from pursuing this proposal. When Doug Fullerton was appointed chair of the National Capital Commission , he proposed a recreational corridor around the canal, including the winter skateway between Carleton University and Confederation Park . The plan was implemented on January 18, 1971, despite opposition by city council . A small section of ice near the National Arts Centre was cleared by NCC employees with brooms and shovels, and 50,000 people skated on

5782-427: The city's Citadel in 1871, contributed to the exodus of English speaking populations, such as local bourgeoisie of Scottish origin or workers of Irish background, to Montreal in the second half of the 19th century. Anglophones made up approximately 40% of the city's population in 1861, but 16% in 1901. Before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in 1876, the only French-speaking officer training school

5880-425: The construction of more extensive rail lines into rural Ontario, only pleasure craft make use of the Rideau Canal. It takes 3–5 days to travel one way through the Rideau Canal system by motor boat. Boat tours of the canal are offered in Ottawa, Kingston, Merrickville, and Chaffeys Lock. A cruise line operates the ship Kawartha Voyageur . Recreational boaters can use it to travel between Ottawa and Kingston. Most of

5978-447: The construction of new offices and condos. Northern sections (Loretteville, Val-Bélair) and eastern sections (Beauport, Charlesbourg) are mostly a mix of middle-class residential suburbs with industrial pockets. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Québec had a population of 549,459 living in 265,711 of its 283,219 total private dwellings, a change of 3.3% from its 2016 population of 531,902 . With

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6076-408: The current lock station in 1969. The Commissariat Building is the oldest stone building still standing in Ottawa. It was built in 1827 as a storehouse for the British Military in Upper Canada. The building has three floors, a secure vault, two sets of staircases, and a block and tackle on the front for hauling goods into the upper floors. After being divided into workshops and residential apartments,

6174-426: The day. Accidents were fairly rare for a project of this size; in 1827 there were seven accidental deaths recorded. Inquests were held for each accidental death. The men, women and children who died were buried in local cemeteries, either burial grounds set up near work sites or existing local cemeteries. Funerals were held for the workers and the graves marked with wooden markers (which have since rotted away—leading to

6272-415: The depletion of forest resources near major rivers upstream of Québec City and in the west of the province, which were transported to Québec's port by log driving ; the construction of locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway , opening up trade routes to the U.S. from Montreal; and the city's inability to retain immigrant populations. This unfavourable context, coupled with the departure of the British army from

6370-438: The early 19th century (c. 1805) to the late 1890s. The Rideau Canal was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1925, and marked with a federal plaque the next year, and again in 1962 and 2013. The canal has been featured on postage stamps issued by Canada Post . Two 45-cent stamps—'Rideau Canal, Summer Boating at Jones Falls' and 'Rideau Canal, Winter Skating by Parliament' —were issued on June 17, 1998, as part of

6468-492: The end of French rule, Quebec was a town of 8,000 inhabitants, surrounded by forests, villages, fields and pastures. The town was distinguished by its monumental architecture, fortifications, and affluent homes of masonry and shacks in the suburbs of Saint-Jean and Saint-Roch. Despite its urbanity and its status as capital, Quebec remained a small city with close ties to its rural surroundings. Nearby inhabitants traded their farm surpluses and firewood for imported goods from France at

6566-425: The equivalent surface area of 90 Olympic ice hockey rinks . It runs from the Hartwells Lockstation at Carleton University to the locks between the Parliament Buildings and the Château Laurier , including Dow's Lake in between. It serves as a popular tourist attraction and recreational area and is also the focus of the Winterlude festival in Ottawa. In the Winter of 2022-2023, unseasonably warm weather prevented

6664-405: The federal government style distinguishes the city and province by spelling the city with an acute accent (Québec) and the province without one (Quebec). The government of Quebec spells both names "Québec", including when writing in English. In French, the two are distinguished in that province names including Quebec generally take definite articles , while city names do not. As a result, the city

6762-403: The first ever season with zero skating days. Before then, the 2015–2016 season was the shortest in which the Skateway was opened, being a mere 34 days long (and with only 18 skating days). On January 21, 2024, the canal opened for the first time in nearly two years, yet was only open for 10 days of skating before it closed for the season on February 25, marking the shortest skating season in which

6860-401: The former as Quebec City. According to the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, the names of Canadian cities and towns have only one official form. Thus, Québec is officially spelled with an accented é in both Canadian English and French . However, province names can have different forms in English and French. As a result, in English,

6958-564: The headquarters of a variety of prominent companies, including: fashion retailer La Maison Simons , engineering firms BPR and Norda Stelo ; Cominar real estate investment trust; Beneva , Industrial Alliance , Promutuel, and Union Canadienne in the insurance sector; Beenox , Gearbox Software , Frima Studio , Sarbakan and Ubisoft in the computer games industry; AeternaZentaris and DiagnoCure in pharmaceuticals; Amalgame, Cossette and Vision 7 in marketing and advertising; Institut National d'Optique (INO) , EXFO, OptoSecurity in technology. It

7056-413: The high humidity, create a high heat index that belies the average high of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 11–13 °C (52–55 °F). Winters are cold, windy and snowy with average high temperatures −5 to −8 °C (23 to 18 °F) and lows −13 to −18 °C (9 to 0 °F). Spring and fall, although short, bring chilly to warm temperatures. Late heat waves as well as " Indian summers " are

7154-709: The hill, the Saint Lawrence Lowlands is flat and has rich, arable soil. Past this valley, the Laurentian Mountains lie to the north of the city but its foothills are within the municipal limits. The Plains of Abraham are located on the southeastern extremity of the plateau, where high stone walls were integrated during colonial days. On the northern foot of the promontory, the lower town neighbourhoods of Saint-Roch and Saint-Sauveur , traditionally working class, are separated from uptown's Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Sacrement  [ fr ] by

7252-467: The ice cap. The other type of ice is called "clear ice", which has a colourless appearance and is formed when ice crystals build up below the frozen surface in cold temperatures. If snow accumulates on the ice it can negatively impact the conditions for skating. Snow depresses the ice surface and slows down the formation of ice crystals beneath the surface. Ice conditions can be classified as very good, good, fair or poor. They are updated twice daily by

7350-410: The ice, and hookups for both plumbing and electricity. The ice cap that forms as the canal freezes becomes the Rideau Canal Skateway. When the canal has built up a sufficient ice thickness, snow is removed from the ice surface and it is flooded in order to make the ice even more thick and smooth. Samples of ice are tested for quality and thickness. When it is safe to skate on, the Rideau Canal Skateway

7448-477: The locks are still hand-operated. There are a total of 45 locks at 23 stations along the canal, plus two locks (locks 33 and 34) at the entrance to the Tay Canal (leading to Perth). The elevation between the Ottawa River and its summit at Upper Rideau Lake, is 83 metres (273 feet), the elevation change from Upper Rideau Lake to Lake Ontario is 50 metres (164 feet). Furthermore, there are four blockhouses and some of

7546-476: The name of the latter remained the same as the historical town ( French : ville ) or parish municipality it replaced. Neighbourhoods each elect their own council, whose powers rest in public consultations . Compared to many other cities in North America, there is less variation between average household incomes between the neighbourhoods. However, some disparities exist. The southwest former cities of Sillery , Cap-Rouge and Sainte-Foy are considered to be

7644-532: The newly created province of Quebec. During World War II, two conferences were held in Quebec City. The First Quebec Conference was held in 1943 with Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of the United States), Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), William Lyon Mackenzie King (Prime Minister of Canada) and T. V. Soong (minister of foreign affairs of China ). The Second Quebec Conference

7742-509: The oldest European settlements in North America and the only fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist. While many of the major cities in Latin America date from the 16th century, among cities in Canada and the United States, few were created earlier than Quebec City ( St. John's , Harbour Grace , Port Royal , St. Augustine , Santa Fe , Jamestown , and Tadoussac ). It

7840-479: The opening of the Skateway for Winterlude. Beaver Tails , a fried dough pastry, are sold along with other snacks and beverages, in kiosks on the skateway. Kiosks were removed in early 2023 due to the resulting lack of tourism. In January 2008, Winnipeg , Manitoba , achieved the record of the world's longest skating rink at a length of 8.54 kilometres but with a width of only 2 to 3 metres wide on its Assiniboine River and Red River at The Forks . In response,

7938-618: The original 16 defensible lockmasters residences along the waterway. The original Commissariat Building and foundation of the Royal Engineers' barracks remain at the Ottawa Lock Station. The waterway is home to many species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and fish. In 1973–74 a new Smiths Falls Combined Lock, 29a, was built a few dozen metres to the north of the original flight of three locks (locks 28–30). The original locks were bypassed but left in place. The Rideau Canal uses

8036-497: The province , and many suburbs of the north shore of the Saint-Lawrence were merged into Quebec City, taking the form of boroughs , thus constituting the boundary of present-day Québec City. In 2008 the city celebrated its 400th anniversary and was gifted funds for festivities and construction projects by provincial and federal governments, as well as public artwork by various entities, including foreign countries. Quebec City

8134-525: The route. The construction of the canal was supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers . Private contractors such as future sugar refining entrepreneur John Redpath , Thomas McKay , Robert Drummond , Thomas Phillips, Andrew White and others were responsible for much of the construction, and the majority of the actual work was done by thousands of Irish , Scottish , and French-Canadian labourers. Colonel John By decided to create

8232-402: The side of the Skateway that flood the ice surface to make it smoother for skaters. Two types of ice can form on the Rideau Canal Skateway, which are "white ice" and " clear ice ". White ice has a milky appearance with air bubbles, and is formed when snow and water mix and then freeze. White ice can also be formed by mechanically flooding the ice surface with water to increase the thickness of

8330-495: The summer tourist season and the Quebec Winter Carnival attract significant numbers of Anglophone (as well as Francophone ) visitors, and English can often be heard in areas frequented by tourists. In 2021, according to Statistics Canada, 90.6% of Quebec City's population spoke French as their sole mother tongue. More than a third of city residents reported being capable of speaking both French and English. According to

8428-523: The two city markets. During the American Revolution , revolutionary troops from the southern colonies assaulted the British garrison in the city in the hope that the peoples of Quebec would rise and join the American Revolution so that Canada would join the Continental Congress , along with the other British colonies of continental North America. The American invasion failed, however, and

8526-410: 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. It was also recognized as an extensive, well preserved and significant example of a canal which was used for military purposes linked to

8624-451: The war resulted in a permanent split of British North America into two entitles: the newly independent United States of America , and those colonies (including Quebec) that remained under British control, which would later become the country of Canada . The city itself was not attacked during the War of 1812 , when the United States again attempted to annex Canadian lands. Amid fears of another American attack on Quebec City, construction of

8722-484: The wealthiest, along with some parts of Montcalm and Old Quebec. The city's traditional working-class areas are found in the lower town below Old Quebec (Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Roch) and directly across the Saint-Charles River to the north (Vanier and Limoilou). However, parts of Limoilou, Saint-Sauveur and particularly Saint-Roch have seen gentrification in the last 20 years, attracting young professionals and

8820-609: The wettest season. During winter, snow generally stays on the ground from the end of November till mid-April. The highest temperature ever recorded in Quebec City was 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) on 17 July 1953. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −36.7 °C (−34.1 °F) on 10 January 1890 and 14 January 2015. On 1 January 2002, the 12 former towns of Sainte-Foy , Beauport , Charlesbourg , Sillery , Loretteville , Val-Bélair , Cap-Rouge , Saint-Émile , Vanier , L'Ancienne-Lorette , Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Lac-Saint-Charles were annexed by Quebec City. This

8918-436: Was built in part on this newly-available rail right-of-way. The Queen Elizabeth Driveway , another scenic Canadian parkway, already served the same purpose on the other side of the canal. Historically, like other National Capital Commission parkways, Colonel By Drive has been periodically closed to motor vehicle traffic and reserved for active transportation use. In 2021, the stretch between Canal Woods Terrace and Daly Avenue

9016-432: Was built on the north bank of the Saint Lawrence River , where it narrows and meets the mouth of the Saint-Charles River . Old Quebec is located on top and at the foot of Cap-Diamant , which is on the eastern edge of a plateau called the promontory of Quebec (Quebec hill). Because of this topographic feature, the oldest and most urbanized borough of La Cité-Limoilou can be divided into upper and lower town. North of

9114-487: Was closed from July 2 to September 6 for this reason. However, as of 2024, Colonel By Drive is not included in this active transportation program. Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario , Canada. Its 46 locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 feet) upstream along

9212-399: Was founded by Samuel de Champlain , a French explorer and diplomat, on 3 July 1608, and at the site of a long abandoned St. Lawrence Iroquoian settlement called Stadacona . Champlain, who came to be called "The Father of New France ", served as its administrator for the rest of his life. The name "Canada" was given to the colony that developed around the settlement at Quebec. Although

9310-465: Was held in 1944 and was attended by Churchill and Roosevelt. They took place in the buildings of the Citadelle and at the nearby Château Frontenac . A large part of the D-Day landing plans were made during those meetings. Until 2002, Quebec was a mostly urbanized city and its territory coterminous with today's borough of La Cité-Limoilou . The Government of Quebec then mandated a municipal reorganization in

9408-538: Was one of several municipal mergers which took place across Quebec on that date. Following a demerger referendum, L'Ancienne-Lorette and Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures were reconstituted as separate municipalities on 1 January 2006, but the other former municipalities remain part of Quebec City. On 1 November 2009, Quebec City re-organized its boroughs, reducing the number from 8 to 6. Quebec City's six boroughs ( French : arrondissements ) are further divided into 35 neighbourhoods ( French : quartiers ). In most cases,

9506-507: Was soon underway. By 1849, the rapids of the St. Lawrence were made navigable by a series of locks, and commercial shippers were quick to switch to this more direct route. But commercial use of the Rideau largely ended after the Prescott and Bytown Railway was opened in December 1854. It provided faster service than shipping by the canal. Further work improving the direct route continued along

9604-565: Was the Quebec City School of Military Instruction, founded in 1864. The school was retained at Confederation, in 1867. In 1868, The School of Artillery was formed in Montreal. The Quebec Conference on Canadian Confederation was held in the city in 1864. In 1867, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the definite capital of the Dominion of Canada, while Quebec City was confirmed as the capital of

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