- As in many other places, a set of rapids at first stimulated urban growth as a "break in bulk point" and later as the site of a canal
- Canal de Lachine supplied energy for industry and a "freeway" for shipments to and from Europe and the US
- Once the industrial heart of Canada, this area is now being reborn as a center for high-tech industry and loft condominiums
- Closed for 30 years, the canal reopened for pleasure boats in 2002