Quebec and Eastern Ontario.- Coming to Quebec (where 75 per cent of all the power consumed is water power) and eastern Ontario, five groups of water powers-all part of or subsidiary to the Saint Lawrence River- may be distinguished. The first has the city of Quebec for centre. It comprises the Chaudiere River to the south, the Montmorency and Saint Anne in the near vicinity (whose combined present development of 19,000 horse power operates the tramways and many of the fac tories of Quebec) and the Lake Saint John region to the north. On the Saguenay, the outlet of Lake Saint John, it is estimated that a continuous supply of 300,000 horse power can be obtained - a supply that could be doubled by storage- whereas on the rivers flowing into the lake several additional hundreds of thousands of horse power are available. The second group is that of the Saint Maurice, which Joins the Saint Lawrence at Three Rivers, and which alone offers a potentiality of 650,000 horse power. Two very large plants are already installed; that of the Shawenegan Water and Power Company at Shawenegan Falls, where 155,000 horse power is produced for local manufactures and for Montreal, Three Rivers and other neighboring cities; and that of the Laurentide Company which controls the fall at Grande Mere, with its 300,000 horse power, 12 miles above Shawenegan, and which manufactures 250 tons of paper daily. At La Tuque, 103 miles from Three Rivers, is a third fall of 70 feet, capable of generating 75,000 horse power, of which only 3,500 is developed. A third group has Montreal, the commercial capital and outport of Canada, for central market. In it are included the Cedar Rapids of the Saint Lawrence, which have a poten tiality of 160,000 horse power, of which 90,000 is developed by one company and 20,000 by a second. Another 13,000 horse power is avail able for Montreal from the Soulanges Canal, still another 13,000 from the Lachine Rapids, whilst Chambly on the Richelieu River con tributes 20,000 horse power to this favorably situated metropolis. It is estimated that an additional 240,000 horse power can be developed for Montreal as the demand arises. The fourth group roup is that of the Ottawa Valley, on the Quebec tributaries of which several hundred thousands of horse power remain to be devel oped, the Gatineau alone having 225,000 horse power, none of it utilized. Further north and west on the Ontario side the Cobalt mines are supplied by the Northern Light and Power Com pany, who, in a single year, reduced the con sumption of coal in the camp from 63,000 tons to 17,000 tons. On the Ottawa River itself 600,000 horse power would be rendered available by the canalizing of the river. Development, however, is at present confined to the large industries of Ottawa and Hull operating at the Chaudiere Falls and consuming about 36,000 horse power. The rapids of the upper Saint Lawrence may be considered a fifth and last group in this area. They have been utilized only to a small extent for local purposes.
Central and Southwestern Ontario.— The Trent River system is the main supply of cen tral, and Niagara Falls that of southwestern, Ontario. No event in the history of the sub ject has so appealed to the imagination as the harnessing of Niagara Falls and the employ ment of its gigantic energy to turn the factory wheels and light the streets and houses of the scores of towns and cities dotting the thickly populated area between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario. Under franchises granted by the province of Ontario 405,000 horse power is to be developed at Niagara Falls, 100,030 by the Canadian Niagara Power Company, 125,000 by the Electrical Development Company and 180, 000 by the Ontario Power Company. Between 1905 and 1914, 369,000 of this was placed on the market, chiefly in the districts between Toronto and London. Linked with Niagara is the plant of the Dominion Power and Transmission Com pany at Decew Falls, where 57,000 horse power is developed by drawing water from the Wel land Canal and carrying it over the Niagara escarpment, a development which renders pos sible the operation of an extensive system of radial and street railways in the Niagara Pen insula and lies at the basis of the rapid indus trial development of the city of Hamilton.
Another international power is that at Sault Sainte Marie, where the Algoma Steel Company and allied industries have developed 17,000 horse power. Retu'rning to the Trent system, about 75,000 horse power is there rendered available by the construction of the canal; of this horse power is already in use, the Electrical Power Company having seven plants and sup plying a wide territory. The deforestation of southern Ontario and consequent alteration of the regimen of the rivers has greatly reduced the power potentialities of the province.
New Ontario.— The northern and western portions of Ontario are rich in water powers. Of developed works, that of the Canadian Cop per Company at Spanish River (10,000 horse power) and that of the Kaministiquia Power Company at Kakabeka Falls near Port Arthur and Fort William (15,500 horse power) are the most important. The Lake Nipigon region and the rivers flowing into James Bay offer per haps 2,000,000 horse power for future develop ment, only a few thousands being now ur use.
The Prairie Provinces.— The two chief de velopments in the prairie sections of Canada are those on the Winnipeg River, which supply Winnipeg with power, and those on the Bow River, acting as feeders to Calgary. The Win nipeg municipal plant and the Winnipeg Elec tric Railway Company's plant on the former aggregate a turbine capacity of 79,700 horse power, but this is only a fraction of the total capacity of the river. On the Bow River, the three plants now installed at Eau Clair, Horse shoe Falls and Kananaskis Falls, respectively, yield altogether over 32,000 horse power. The above, however, are merely the first beginnings of power development in western Canada. The North and South Saskatchewan have several important power sites, while the Nelson, with one of the principal drainage areas of the con tinent, has been estimated to offer no less than 2,500,000 horse power, there being 19 power sites on it, each of which would produce from 75,000 to 235,000 horse power. The Churchill, the Athabaska and the Peace are likewise rivers of great potentialities. For the moment, however, these, like the Nelson, lie beyond reach of a market.
British Columbia.— The "sea of moun tains" which constitutes the interior, and the heavy precipitation of a mild and equable cli mate, makes British Columbia a country of numerous lakes, large and rapid rivers and abundant water powers. The latter early at tracted attention.. The first development was made 18 years ago at Bonnington Falls on the Kootenay, where 23,000 horse power is now available for the important mining and smelt ing industries of Rossland and Trail. About the same time the British Columbia Electric Railway Company developed the Goldstream plant on Vancouver Island; but this has, been completely eclipsed by the later plants of the same company at Lake Buntzen on Burrard Inlet (being the largest in the province with 84,500 horse power), and at Jordan River on Vancouver Island (25,000 horse power). Other large British Columbia plants are those of the Northwestern Canada Power Company at Stave Lake (26,000 horse power) and of the Powell River Company, Limited, at Powell River, the latter a newsprint establishment generating 24,000 horse power. Altogether over 265,000 horse power has been developed, but it is esti mated that there are nearly three times that amount available within market distance of Vancouver and Victoria alone.