St. Lawrence River

The St. Lawrence River is known as "Le Fleuve," the Greatest Canadian River, and we are fortunate to have it flowing past our community here in Leeds Grenville.

Also known as the St. Lawrence Seaway, the river is both a trade corridor as well as a recreational waterway attracting millions of visitors to its waters and its scenic 1000 Islands every year. There are dozens of shipwrecks under the river’s waves perfect for world-class, fresh-water scuba diving. The river stretches about 600 kilometres (370 miles) from Montreal to Lake Ontario, part of the interior Great Lakes. The Seaway enables shipping trade from the Atlantic Ocean to travel deep into the heart of North America to Lake Superior.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation oversees the movement of marine traffic. Deep-draft ocean vessels, lakers, tour boats and recreational watercraft have been sharing this unique passageway since 1959. There are many viewing points along the river close to the shipping channel, including Cardinal, Johnstown, Prescott, Maitland, Blockhouse Island and the Brockville Narrows. Crossover Island, where freighters cross from the Canadian to American channel, is located in New York State close to the Canadian border.

View interactive map to see where the boats are.

The St. Lawrence Seaway is considered one of the world’s greatest and most strategic commercial waterways with a top-notch safety and reliability record. The seaway was built through a binational partnership between Canada and the United States.

There are several harbours along the river on the Canadian side within Leeds Grenville.  Marinas providing various services in the communities of Johnstown, Prescott, Brockville, Mallorytown, Rockport, Ivy Lea, Lansdowne and Gananoque.