Confederation also directed atten tion to the renewed importance of the Saint Lawrence route and the economy of large ves sels for the carrying trade. It was determined to enlarge and deepen the canal system. The new movement was once more begun at Corn wall, in 1876. The dimensions of the new locks were 270 x45 feet with 14 feet of water. The other canals were enlarged or quite new ones constructed on at least the same scale. • The Soulanges Canal, the last to be built, has locks of 280 x 45 feet with 15 feet of water. In 1895 a Canadian canal at Sault Sainte Marie was opened with one lock of 900 x 60 feet and with 18 feet of water. There is now, therefore, a continuous waterway with a minimum depth of 14 feet from Lake Superior to the sea.
As usual it was expected that when the new canal system on a 14-foot basis was fully completed, the grain and other traffic from the West would be largely diverted to the Saint Lawrence route. This expectation, how ever, was but slightly realized, there being many factors to be taken into account, among them the construction of still larger vessels upon the upper lakes and the changed conditions of transatlantic shipping, tending to favor the larger American ports. The forwarding of grain tended to shift from the Saint Lawrence route below Lake Erie to the New York and other transatlantic routes through Buffalo, which, at present, furnishes the duel exit for western Canadian as well as American grain. Still another attempt, therefore, is being made to readjust matters by a further enlargement of the Welland Canal. After elaborate sur veys and much discussion, with incidentally a considerable agitation from Montreal and northeastern Ontario for the construction of a new canal route via the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay, it was decided in 1912 to under take the enlargement of the Welland Canal.
This involves widening and deepening the un locked section of the canal from Lake Erie to Thorold, and the construction of a new system of seven very large locks from that point to Lake Ontario, serving the purpose of the 25 locks on the existing canal. Ultimately, the new canal will furnish a water way of 30 feet in depth although in the meantime of 25 feet for the unlocked section of it. This will amply accommodate all present vessels from the head of Lake Superior, the Sault Sainte Marie having a minimum depth of only 18 feet 3 inches. The estimated cost of the new canal is $50,000,000, $20,000,000 have been voted and $10,000,000 expended, but further operations are likely to be suspended until the close of the war.
The full benefit of the new Welland Canal for the Saint Lawrence route cannot be realized until the Saint Lawrence River canals from Prescott to Montreal are also enlarged, the present locks on this section ranging from 14 to 18 feet, the majority with the lesser depth.
Meantime, extensive improvements in the harbor accommodation at Saint John, N. B., and the construction of new terminal facilities at Halifax are expected to have an important influence on the transatlantic facilities from Canada, without which the mere improvement of the canals would not be sufficient to in fluence the present and possibly future trend of Canada's external trade through American ports. See CANADIAN CANALS.