to the St. Lawrence River.

The first survey for a canal route was done in 1816 by Sir Joshua Jebb. Jebb, then a young 22 year-old Royal Engineer, surveyed the main route by way of the Rideau Lakes and also a shortcut route from the mouth of Irish Creek on the Rideau River to Morton Bay where it would return to the main Rideau Route. At the time of Jebb's survey, a water connection to Kingston had been established due to flooding created by mill dams located