Canard River of the Minas Basin. The river was once tidal for most of its length but a series of dykes first built in the 1600s held back the tide which is now stopped near the river's mouth by the Wellington Dyke. The upper reaches of the river are often referred to by the dykes which once spanned the river - Upper Dyke and Middle Dyke. The Canard river was known to the Mi'kmaq people as Apocheechumochwakade meaning "home of the black duck". The Mi'kmaq also used the mouth of the river for shad fishing. Acadians settled along the river in the
Canard, Nova Scotia takes its name from the Canard River. Successive cultures have lived by the river and have named the settlement area by different but related names. Where Canard Street and Highway 358 intersect is known as jawbone corner, often called this by the local residents of the area. It got its names because back before the Wellington Dyke was completed in 1885, a large whale swam up the Canard river, and became stranded on the beach as the tide went out. The jaw bones of the big whale were then placed in the yard of the house that was on the