The Rideau Canal part of the Thomas Burrowes collection dates from the period between 1826 and 1845, and groups of work from four distinct periods of activity are represented:

• 1826 to 1829: Bytown and the Rideau River (Entrance Locks to Black Rapids), executed when Burrowes was based in Bytown and worked as Assistant Overseer and surveyor.
• 1831 to 1832: Kingston Mills to the Rideau Lakes, executed when Burrowes was promoted and moved to the southwestern division.
• 1832 to 1845: From a base in Kingston Mills with visits to Bytown, after completion of the canal-building project.
• 1846 to 1861: Retirement, family and village scenes, executed when he was postmaster, justice of the peace, and farmer in Kingston Mills.

While based at the southwestern end of the Rideau Canal, Thomas Burrowes traveled frequently to Bytown at the other end. This 1830 painting shows the voyageur canoe that provided transport before the arrival of steamboats on the completed waterway. The channel was originally defined with masonry and stone markers.