2.4 Québec–Lévis Crossing

Since the colony's early days, people needed to cross the St. Lawrence River at Québec. They used birchbark canoes at first and, later, wooden ones. In those days, an ice bridge formed during the winter. Instead of paddlers, coachmen and carters moved travellers and goods from one side of the river to the other. In 1818, the first steamboat, the Lauzon, appeared. The first horse-boat, with horse-driven paddle wheels, soon followed. With a number of ferry boats travelling back and forth across the river, the cities of Québec and Lévis decided to create certain regulations: in 1863, an exclusive contract was awarded, by auction, to a single company. Since 1972, the Société des traversiers du Québec has been operating Québec–Lévis ferry services. Start the video Map of Place-Royale