[3] Prior to the 19th century, the Don River naturally entered Toronto Harbour in two mouths, one roughly near where Keating Channel now flows out and one further south.

In the late 19th century, a public works program was started to straighten the lower part of the Don River south of the Winchester Street Bridge.

The Keating Channel was proposed as a method of directing the dirty river water into the harbour thus dispersing it more rapidly.

The channel was planned to go from the northeast corner of the inner harbour east towards Leslie Street and join up with the Coatsworth Cut at the foot Coxwell Avenue.

The original mouth of the Don is buried under infill near where the Gardiner Expressway meets Cherry Street.

The channel is flanked on the north by the elevated Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard East.

The south side is occupied by the PortsToronto (also called the Toronto Port Authority) works yard and the Keating Channel Pub.

At the west end Cherry Street crosses the channel over a single-sided drawbridge rarely used by ships.

The dredgeate material is barged out to the Leslie Street Spit where it is dumped in a containment area built for this purpose.

In 1980 Ontario's Minister of the Environment was asked, during question period, about an exemption from environmental regulations, granted to those who dredged the channel.

Both sides of the channel are lined with concrete dock wall which creates a barrier and provides little habitat for fish and other water dwelling creatures.

On the north side of the channel a slight bend in Lake Shore Boulevard has created a narrow open space.

In 1998, the Task Force to Bring Back the Don planted Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina), Sandbar Willow (Salix exigua), and Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) in this area.

Another small green space at the eastern end was also planned for restoration but the project was abandoned after one planting.