page_title: Lachine Canal
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Lachine Canal / Development
caption_attribution_description: English: Two people skate on the Lachine Canal once it froze during winter. Français&#160;: Deux personnes patinent sur le canal de Lachine lorsque l'eau de surface gela.
context_page_description: The Lachine Canal is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest. Before the canal construction there was a lake, Lac St Pierre. The lake and its rivers can be seen on the maps of Montreal of the years 1700, 1744 and on the map titled "The isles of Montreal. As they have been surveyed by the french engineers".
  The canal gets its name from the French word for China. The European explorers sought to find a route from New France to the Western Sea, and from there to China and hence auspiciously the region where the canal was built was named Lachine.
  Due to the continuous disposal of industrial waste, the canal contains harmful substances, though the water quality is said to be good.
context_section_description: At its zenith from 1880 to 1940, the industrial and manufacturing area adjacent to the canal was once the largest in Canada in terms of both the number of firms and diversity of its output. At one time, over 20% of the workforce of the Island of Montreal was employed in its factories. Given its historic importance, the "Lachine Canal Manufacturing Complex" was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996, in addition to the designation already enjoyed by the canal itself.
  The Lachine Canal fell victim to deindustrialization. Many of the factories that lined the Lachine Canal were torn down and replaced by houses and apartments. By 1990 there was the feeling that the area's industrial history was being forgotten. In response, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board named the Lachine Canal "Lachine Canal Manufacturing Complex". The area was renovated after Parks Canada took over the Administration.
  Atwater Market was built as a public works project during the depression era. The site was originally the William Rutherford lumberyard. The building has served many purposes, but it has been a market since 1982.
  Over the last two decades, the canal has seen a large increase in residential and commercial development. In what was originally a very heavy industrial neighbourhood, Pointe-Saint-Charles and Saint-Henri have become very up and coming districts. House values have skyrocketed and many real estate developers have turned the century-old industrial factories and warehouses, like that of Dominion Textiles (5524 Saint-Patrick, now Complexe Dompark) & Simmons Bedding Company (4710 St-Ambroise, now Complexe Canal Lachine) into prestigious loft buildings. Complexe Dompark recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and now houses more than 90 multimedia, fashion, publishing and service industry-based companies in custom designed lofts. The area around the Atwater Market has become one of Montreal's most desirable residential areas for condo owners. Much of this is thanks to the continued effort to clean up the Canal.
  The old Redpath Sugar refinery at St-Patrick and Montmorency is now partially Lofts Redpath, converted after being abandoned since 1980.
caption: Two people skate on the frozen canal. (January 2011).
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