ABSTRACT
The construction of the Rideau Canal has usually been viewed as a British military engineering project. Imperial strategists intended the canal to provide a safe transportation route between Lake Ontario and Montreal bypassing the American border along the St. Lawrence River. While the Rideau canal was distinguished from other public works by the involvement of the British military, this made little difference in the treatment of the workers. Because of lack of information, only a rough estimate is possible of the number of workers on the Rideau. Workers on the Rideau usually were hired by the month and paid a daily rate. There was little piece work with the exception of some stone cutters and quarry men and some common labourers hired directly by the military. Work on the Rideau included the clearing and excavation of earth and rock, masonry quarrying and construction, the erection of wooden weirs and bridges, and the building of rubble embankments and dams.
