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View of Strait of Canso in relation to Atlantic Canada showing its close proximity to Sable Island.
22 August 2004
Atlantic Provinces and the Strait of Canso

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NEWFOUNDLAND JOINS CANADA - The Canso Causeway Association belaboured in their booklet published in December 1948 the significance of Newfoundland joining Canada in 1949 and raised the concern about the delays at the Strait of Canso.
They also raised the increasing interest in 1949 on the country wide scale of the Trans Canada Highway being constructed and how it would cross the Strait of Canso. (Referring to the ferries) "Why not abolish such inadequate, uneconomic and sometimes dangerous obstructions? Wisdom suggests their replacement by a permanent crossing which should carry not only the Trans Canada Highway but also the tracks of the Canadian National Railways."(A Permanent Crossing over the Strait of Canso,Dec.23rd, 1948)

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Canso Causeway construction project signs
1952
Canso Causeway work site

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DREAM TO BECOME REALITY - In June of 1951, the Honourable Lionel Chevrier, Minister of Transport for the federal government, tabled a report in Ottawa which changed the recommendation of the Board of Engineers to go from a low level bridge to a causeway to join Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia's mainland. The job of preparing the plans for the stone causeway and navigation locks was awarded to O.J. McCulloch Engineering Company of Montreal. In 1952, tenders were called and the 50 year dream of a fixed link from Cape Breton Island across the Strait of Canso to mainland Nova Scotia was official .
Northern Construction and J.W. Stewart Limited began preparation at the Cape Porcupine construction site in Auld's Cove in July 1952.

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Photo of Canso Causeway, taken from Cape Porcupine, looking towards Cape Breton Island.
1955
Canso Causeway

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CANSO CAUSEWAY AND CANAL CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN
1952 and 1955

Official Opening Ceremonies
held on August 13th, 1955

50th Anniversary
Canso Causeway
Re enactment on
August 13th, 2005

as part of a week long schedule of activities www.cansocauseway.ca