Most transportation historians date the history of Canada's railways as beginning on February 25, 1832, with the incorporation of British North America's first steam-powered railway, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad (C&SL).
This line opened for traffic on July 21, 1836, although there are cases of animal-drawn mining tramways in Nova Scotia from the 18th century onward.
In many cases these local efforts were quickly taken over by a major railway to both expand its own network and to deny its competition access to traffic.
American railroads always operated in Canada under charters of subsidiary railways even though most had equipment lettered only for the parent company.
These rights still exist with present-day Canadian National and Norfolk Southern, which runs into Windsor and Sarnia, Ontario.