As part of the celebration of Canada's 150th Anniversary, the Government of Canada announced free admission in 2017 for all visitors to national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas operated by Parks Canada. In addition, Parks Canada have announced that lockage will also be free for boaters in 2017. The Parks Canada historic canals include:
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Rideau Canal Kingston to Ottawa
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Trent-Severn Waterway Trent to Georgian Bay
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Carillon Canal (Ottawa River)
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Chambly Canal (Southeast of Montreal)
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Lachine Canal (Montreal)
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Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal (Montreal)
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Saint-Ours Canal (Richeleau River)
We have transited the Rideau Canal twice, embarking at Kingston and traveling to Ottawa, and thoroughly enjoyed the passage. Our 2007 trip is described in a
Sail-Log narrative. We repeated that trip in 2013 and had another great week of boating. Lockage fees are in proportion to boat length, so for a typical 24-footer they would be about $125 for the the Rideau Canal. While locking may be free, mooring charges (for overnight mooring along the canal, usually at locks) will still be charged. Also, this policy applies only to parks managed by Parks Canada, and provincial and municipal parks are not included in the offer. For more details, see
Your Free Pass to Discovery
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/voyage-travel/admission.aspx
You have to obtain a pass from Parks Canada. They have an on-line site for application:
[exturl]http://www.parksorders.ca/[/exturl]
[And, yes, the free pass application website is currently not working.]
