Canal Flats: Highway 93 at Burns Avenue, looking southbound

Canal Flats is best known in British Columbia for lying beside Columbia Lake, the headwater of the Columbia River. At the narrow divide between the Columbia and Kootenay river systems, the community occupies an important geographical hinge in the Rocky Mountain Trench, a long valley through southeastern British Columbia. Its name recalls the Baillie-Grohman Canal, built in the late 1880s to link Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River for navigation; the ambitious route saw little practical use. Today, Canal Flats is a base for exploring the Columbia Valley’s lakes, wetlands and forest roads. View additional webcams nearby to better understand how Canal Flats and the Columbia Valley relate to their surroundings.

British Columbia has served as Canada’s Pacific frontier since joining Confederation in 1871. This vast western province extends from the Pacific coast across the Coast Mountains and interior plateaus to the Canadian Rockies; these coordinates lie in its sparsely settled northern interior. The Fraser, British Columbia’s longest river, drains a large part of the province before reaching the Strait of Georgia. First Nations have shaped these lands for millennia, and their living cultures remain integral to communities throughout the province. Victoria, on Vancouver Island, is the provincial capital, while Vancouver is its largest city and a major Pacific port. Forestry, mining, fisheries and outdoor travel all reflect a terrain where waterways and mountain corridors matter. View additional webcams nearby to better understand how British Columbia’s northern interior relates to its Pacific coast and mountain ranges.

Canada has served as a frontier between French and British colonial powers since the 17th century. The world’s second-largest country extends from Atlantic shores to the Pacific and Arctic coasts, with the Canadian Shield, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River shaping its vast geography. First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples are central to Canada’s identity, while Ottawa’s Parliament Hill represents its federal political life. French remains the official language of Quebec, adding a distinct dimension to the country’s public culture. See how Canada connects across North America by browsing webcams in neighbouring regions.