Parks Canada, the NCC and the City of Ottawa have jointly launched a Rideau Canal Cultural Landscape Study* covering the approximate 8.5 km stretch of the canal from the Ottawa Locks to Hogs Back Locks. The study will be carried out by Matrix Heritage Inc.

The objective of the study is to create a guiding document for the partner agencies that outlines the heritage values and character-defining elements within the study area and how they can best be enhanced and protected into the future.

Heritage Ottawa is pleased to be participating in the study, which was launched in August, 2023 with a public and stakeholder engagement process initiated in October. 

We encourage your participation by completing the Online Survey.

Other opportunities will be available through public consultation activities and in-person pop-up kiosks. A final report is due in March 2024.

The partner agencies are seeking the public's views on the following questions:

• What do you value about the Ottawa section (Ottawa Locks to Hogs Back) of the Rideau Canal?
• What are your priorities for the management of the cultural landscapes of the Rideau Canal?

*"Cultural landscapes are those where human interaction with natural systems has, over a long period, formed a distinctive landscape. These interactions arise from, and cause, cultural values to develop. Managing these values, with their material, physical evidence and their non-material associations, so that they remain of outstanding universal value, is a particular challenge for World Heritage cultural landscape managers." / UNESCO World Heritage Centre