It was intended to provide a transport link between the town of Paisley, the Firth of Forth and Port Dundas, Glasgow, without having to go via Bowling, some 7 miles (11 kilometres) downstream on the Clyde.

obtained in 1753 authorised improvements to the White Cart Water, to make it navigable, and so assist the developing cotton industry in Paisley.

A new road bridge had been built at Inchinnan in 1787, after which Paisley Town Council obtained a second act of Parliament,[which?]

With the anticipated building of the Forth and Cart Canal, further work was carried out in 1835 to improve the harbour facilities at Paisley.

The idea of a direct connection between the Cart Navigation and the Forth and Clyde Canal had first been suggested by Hugh Baird in 1799, but no further action had been taken.

By then, revenue was only £325 per year, and costs, which included interest on the debts from the construction of the canal, exceeded this amount by £17.

The canal was in a poor state, and it was estimated that £3,100 needed to be spent on it to return it to good order.

The Forth and Clyde estimated that they made £739 per year from trade which passed from the Forth and Cart to their canal, and therefore offered to buy it for £6,400.

[9] Despite its having been closed for over 100 years, the Environmental Statement for the construction on a new junction on the M8 motorway noted that the course of the canal was still clearly visible to the eastern edge of the shipyard site, and concluded that much of it probably still existed.