Welland.

Welland is a mid-sized Niagara city built around its canal — but not the one you'd expect. When the active Welland Ship Canal was rerouted east of the city in 1973, the bypassed downtown channel was redeveloped into the Welland Recreational Waterway, and the result is a flatwater course running straight through the centre of town.

The Welland International Flatwater Centre runs sprint canoe/kayak, rowing, and dragon-boat racing on it; the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority manages Chippawa Creek Conservation Area on the Welland River corridor west of the city; and the Welland Canals Parkway Trail — a segment of the Greater Niagara Circle Route — follows the recreational canal through the urban core, connecting Lake Erie at Port Colborne to Lake Ontario at Port Weller. Welland is roughly an hour from Hamilton and an hour and a half from the GTA via the QEW and the Niagara highway grid.