Canada's River Heritage:
Canada is a nation with a rich river heritage. White ribbons cascading through endless boreal forest. Silver ribbons sliding down brood, U-shaped, glacier-carved valleys. Meandering muddy ribbons across the prairies. Ribbons of green linking a labyrinth of lakes, ponds and bogs on the Canadian Shield. Rivers are everywhere imprinted on the Canadian landscape - and in the hearts and minds of its people.

Rivers - Part of Us:
Rivers are much more than flowing water. Rivers are part of our lives and our heritage. They moulded this country and its peoples. They are the threads that bind the fabric of nature and humanity that makes Canada "Canadian". We swim in rivers, fish in them, are challenged by their rapids and wilderness, find peace of mind and solitude along their shores.

But we are changing our rivers. Channeling, damming, diverting, controlling them, paving their banks, draining their wetlands, poisoning their waters, bulldozing the human history on their banks. Much of our river heritage is threatened and may be lost forever.

Protecting Our River Heritage - The Canadian Heritage Rivers System
In January, 1984, the Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS) was established by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to give national recognition to the important rivers of Canada, to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river heritage, and to encourage the public to learn about, enjoy and appreciate Canada's rivers.

The first Canadian Heritage River was the French, in Ontario (1986). Today, there are 29 Heritage Rivers across Canada, from the Arctic barrens to southern Ontario's farmlands, from Newfoundland's rocky hills to the mountains and glaciers of the Yukon. The goal is to establish a system of Canadian Heritage Rivers that reflects the diversity of Canada's river environments and celebrates the role of rivers in Canada's history and society. The dream is to ensure that rivers in Canada flow into the future, pure and unfettered as they have since the melting of the vast Pleistocene ice sheets.