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Canso Causeway links Cape Breton to mainland

Broadcast Date: July 22, 1980

After hundreds of years accessing mainland Nova Scotia only by boat, Cape Bretoners finally have a road "linking the mainland to them." The Canso Causeway, a two kilometre ribbon of granite connecting Port Hastings, Cape Breton to the Nova Scotia mainland, opens on Aug. 13, 1955. Over 40,000 people are on hand to celebrate the opening of the only "road to the isle."

Canso Causeway links Cape Breton to mainland

• Before the Canso Causeway was built, Cape Breton was reachable only by ferry.
• With an average depth of 60 metres, the Strait of Canso is the deepest natural harbour in North America. The Canso Causeway is the deepest causeway in the world. It's part of the TransCanada Highway.
• A causeway is a raised road or path, supported from below, as opposed to a bridge, which is often supported from above.


• The name "Canso" comes from the Mi'kmaq word "Kamsok," meaning "opposite the lofty cliffs."
• The Canso Strait has been ice-free since the causeway was built. Locks on the Cape Breton side allow small ships through, and preserve Cape Breton's island status.
• The causeway is a great place for bird watching. Gulls, grebes, loons and even Bald Eagles congregate there during fish migrations.


• Cape Breton Island is 175 kilometres long and 140 kilometres wide. Explorer John Cabot is said to have landed on the island in 1497 and claimed it for England (others say Cabot's landfall was in Newfoundland or Maine.) Thousands of Scottish and Irish settlers came to live on the island in the 1700s and 1800s.
• The 263-km long Fleur-de-lis Trail begins at the Canso Causeway and ends at Fortress Louisbourg.

Also on August 13:
• 1980: Canadian oceanographer Joseph MacInnis discovers the sunken wreck of the Scottish-built HMS "Breadalbane." The ship, which was used as a supply vessel for the Franklin Expedition, was crushed by ice and sank in the Arctic Ocean in 1853.
• 1990: Gilles Duceppe becomes the first MP elected under the banner of the separatist Bloc Québécois. He wins a byelection in the riding of Laurier-Ste.Marie. Que.

• 1992: Justice Michel Monnin rules that mandatory Christian prayer in Manitoba's schools is unconstitutional. Manitoba was the last bastion of compulsory prayer in public schools in Canada.

Canso Causeway links Cape Breton to mainland

Medium: Television

Program: Here Today

Broadcast Date: July 22, 1980

Guest(s):

Reporter: John Lewendowski

Duration: 1:56

Last updated:
June 15, 2007