Канал Флэтс: История и наследие долины Колумбия.

Canal Flats is a village municipality in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. This Columbia Valley community lies between the southern end of Columbia Lake and the northwest shore of the Kootenay River. The locality, on Highway 93/95, is by road about north of Cranbrook and southeast of Golden.

The Ktunaxa Nation has occupied the region around Canal Flats for thousands of years. On a bluff just to the south, remnants of shelter pits evidence a former Ktunaxa salmon fishing camp. Differing versions exist of the missionary endeavours of Father Pierre Jean DeSmet of the Jesuits. According to one account, he organized a great assembly at the south end of Columbia Lake in 1845, where he baptized hundreds of tribal members. Afterward, he erected a cross in a prominent place to commemorate the occasion. Relocated to the village in 2011, a log building to house the Columbia Discovery Centre and Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre opened in 2013.

Canoeing upstream, David Thompson reached the headwaters of the Columbia River in April 1808. He named the 1.2 mile (2 km) land mass separating the waterways as McGillivray's Portage. Although probably named after Duncan McGillivray, who accompanied Thompson in 1800 in their search for an overland route to the Pacific, other possibilities are Duncan's brothers William and Simon McGillivray. In 1887, Kootenay City comprised a single one room cabin. In 1892, the townsite was surveyed. In 1897, this name was recycled to promote what would become Procter. Canal Flat, adopted by 1888, was used interchangeably with the plural version of Canal Flats from 1895. An 1898 reference that lists Grohman as separate from Canal Flats may suggest that the southern portion had a distinct identity for a period. The plural spelling, which first appeared on a map in 1909, gained pre eminence over time. After retendering and negotiations, a charter was awarded to William Adolf Baillie Grohman in 1886. A wagon road northward from Galbraith's Ferry opened in 1886. Southeastward from Steamboat Landing, and a connecting bridge at Upper Crossing, followed the next year. Completed in July 1889, the Baillie Grohman Canal was a notable fiasco of the era. To make the waterways navigable would have required extensive dredging of the two rivers for many miles and a complete rebuild of the 1.5 mile (2 km) canal. The downstream falls on the Kootenay were especially problematic. In 1890, a wagon bridge across the canal was destroyed when the canal banks collapsed. In summertime, the Golden–Fort Steele passenger service, which served the locality, encompassed riverboat, tramway and stage modes. In 1892, the Upper Columbia Navigation & Tramway Co opened the tramway which connected Columbia Lake and Windermere Lake. In wintertime, when river ice shut down river traffic, a stage traversed the whole route. The 1894 flood destroyed the original 323 feet (98 m) bridge, which was replaced near year end with a 140 feet (43 m) Howe truss, a 78 feet (24 m) Queen truss, and four 20 feet (6 m) pile bents. In 1897, the 6 mile (10 km) tramway permanently closed. Passengers transferred to a stage for the Windermere–Fort Steele leg. In 1899, the respective mileages from Golden were Windermere (82.2), Brewer's (95.3), Canal Flat (111.4), and Kootenay Bridge (113.2). In the early 1900s, a substantial replacement bridge appears to have been built adjacent to Canal Flats. In 1911, the relevant listed stopping places were Windermere (82), Fairmont Springs (93), Sante's (106), Wolf Creek/Hanson's (151), and Fort Steele (160). In 1931, the new bridge comprised two 140 feet (43 m) Howe trusses. The relief camp at Canal Flats during the Great Depression carried out highway improvements. In 1950, Highway 4 was renumbered as Highway 95, which was rebuilt in the late 1950s and paving was completed in 1962. In 1966, the highway bridge was replaced by a concrete structure.

The Kootenay Central Railway (KCR) was a CP subsidiary. In 1913, Burns and Jordan, the prime contractor for the railway construction, employed a large force in the vicinity. In January 1915, the inaugural passenger train arrived on the commencement of a through service. Train Timetables (Regular stop or Flag stop) Mile 1916 1919 1929 1932 1935 1939 1943 1948 1953 1955 1960 1963 Fairmont Hot Springs 77.1 Radium 76.8 Environ 69.2 Columbia Lake 68.8 Canal Flat/s 64.1 Torrent 52.6 Skookumchuck 46.3

In 2021, a southbound freight train struck the rear trailer of a fully loaded logging truck at the Thunderhill Road railway crossing. Although damages were extensive, no injuries were sustained.

In 1888, a steam sawmill was installed for the duration of the canal construction. In 1910, Canal Flats camps, under the oversight of T. G. Procter, took out 4000000 feet (1219200 m) of logs for transportation to the Crow's Nest Pass Lumber Co mill. In 1928, CP erected a warehouse at Canal Flats. Construction began on a logging railway up Findlay Creek and a mammoth mill northeast of the station. The next year, the CP planing mill followed the relocation of the CP sawmill from Bull River. The logging railway advanced farther up Findlay Creek, and the Crow's Nest Lumber Co also laid tracks toward Canal Flats along the main road from the south. During the early 1930s, CP operated several small tie mills in the area. A 1 mile (2 km) spur led to the several yard tracks at the sawmill, which was owned by Crestbrook Forest Industries in the 1970s and Canadian Forest Products on closing in 2015 with the loss of 75 jobs.

In 2004, the settlement incorporated as a village municipality. From the mid 2010s, the village was transitioning from a forestry dependent economy. To promote tech and trades, the Columbia Lake Technology Center opened in 2018 within the skeleton of the old mill. Two key tenants were PodTech, which manufactured transportable data centres, and Bid Group, which manufactured products such as steel conveyors for forestry companies. The existence of fibre optic infrastructure on site and in town was strategic. In 2016, Mountain Mercantile opened in the old high school building opposite the arena. A range of boutique small businesses set up on the site, which was also the venue for a local weekend vendors market. In 2020, the BID Group permanently closed its manufacturing facility. The next year, the village adopted a bylaw to waive the municipal portion of property taxes for new commercial developments. In 2022, Richard Wayken was appointed as Chief Administrative Officer for the village. An elementary school, motel, post office, café, and general store/liquor outlet/gas bar exist.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Canal Flats had a population of 802 living in 362 of its 470 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 668. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Adjacent to the north is the trail forming the Columbia Greenway. To the northwest is Thunder Hill Provincial Park. To the northeast is the Tilley Memorial Park (formerly Canal Flats Provincial Park). Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park is south. The Canal Flats Arena (early 1970s) received a major renovation in 2013 and upgrade in 2018. The civic centre (1968), which was expanded in the 1980s, includes a seniors' centre and food bank. In 2021, the new pavilion at the Canal Flats Lions Park opened. On the first weekend in June, Canal Flats holds the annual Canal Days Party. The program include parades, pancake breakfast, beer garden, food vendors, competitive events, and live music.