Head for Clarence Island, not downtown Rockland, and have nine dollars ready. That is the whole transaction on the Ecolos cable ferry, which links Clarence-Rockland in Ontario with Thurso in Quebec and was flying its open banner on our 29 September 2026 visit to its site. What it will not tell you is the day the ice shuts it.
Ecolos hours page dated 8 May 2026, still current when checked 29 September 2026; season ends at freeze-up, no 2026 closing date announced Ecolos – Hours of operation and rates · 2026-09-29
Drive to Clarence Island, in the City of Clarence-Rockland, and roll down to the ramp; the ferry comes across to meet you. Ecolos runs a cable ferry from there over the Ottawa River to Thurso, in Quebec's Outaouais, during a season that starts in spring and ends when the river freezes. Read on 29 September 2026, the Ecolos website listed the crossing as open, with its weekday hours of 05:00 to 22:00 and weekend hours of 06:00 to 22:00.
Budget $9 CAD for a car or truck, $5 for a motorcycle, $2 for a bicycle, and nothing at all on foot. There is no booking system and no timetable to learn. Pay cash to avoid the 2.5% card fee.
Check the size and weight of what you are driving before committing to this route. The ferry takes vehicles up to 60 feet long and 31 metric tonnes, and combinations with a trailer are charged by their overall length, at $14 below 40 feet and $19 above.
Pay per vehicle, not per head. The rate card has no passenger fare at all: walkers go free, and the $9 car rate is charged for the car. Nothing on the page suggests the people inside it are counted, which makes this one of the cheapest ways across the Ottawa River for a carful.
Pay cash if you can. Ecolos adds a 2.5% processing fee to card payments, and it does not say whether HST or QST is included in the listed prices.
| Car or truck | $ 9 |
| Motorcycle | $ 5 |
| Bicycle | $ 2 |
| Vehicle and trailer, under 40 ft overall | $ 14 |
| Vehicle and trailer, over 40 ft overall | $ 19 |
| Pedestrian | Free |
Rates on the Ecolos hours-and-prices page, updated 8 May 2026, read 29 September 2026 Ecolos – Hours of operation and rates · 2026-09-29
The route mapped in OpenStreetMap is short: about half a kilometre in a straight line from the Clarence Island ramp to the Thurso shore, crossing the provincial boundary in mid-river. Because the boat is pulled along cables instead of steering, it follows the same line every trip. Ecolos makes the case that this is also quieter and gentler on the water, with no propeller churning it up.
Set your navigation for 700 Onesime Guibord Road, the address Ecolos gives, rather than for Rockland itself. The operator's contact page describes the approach as Dallaire Street out to Clarence Island; the island is joined to the mainland by a road and bridge that the United Counties of Prescott and Russell paid for in the early 1990s specifically to bring a ferry back here.
Expect to queue at the ramp rather than in a terminal. There is no booking and no departure board, only the hours window.
On the Quebec side the ferry lands on the Thurso shore, in the Outaouais region. If you are starting from Quebec, you are crossing into Ontario; the operator lists only its Rockland address, so check the landing on a map before setting off from the Thurso side.
Pedestrians ride free in either direction, which makes the Thurso ramp a practical start for walkers heading over to the Clarence Island side.
The Ontario ramp is on Clarence Island at 700 Onesime Guibord Road, reached by Dallaire Street and a bridge, not in Rockland's town centre.
Cards carry a 2.5% fee on top of the fare. On a $9 crossing it is small, but it adds up for daily commuters.
The ferry's maximum is 31 metric tonnes and 60 feet. Anything with a trailer pays $14 or $19 depending on whether the combination is under or over 40 feet.
Ecolos sets no closing date in advance. When ice forms, the crossing stops for winter; the open or closed banner on the operator's site is the thing to check.
Pedestrians are not charged, and bicycles pay $2. It is a cheap way to add the Quebec shore to a ride along the Ontario side.
The ferry is newer than the crossing. Ecolos says a service ran here from the 1920s until 1996–97 and was lost because of the noise from heavy trucks, after which the island road became a no-trucks route. A 2005 petition to bring a Clarence Island–Thurso ferry back gathered more than 6,000 signatures in a week. The boat Ecolos now uses was bought from Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and rebuilt: diesel propulsion out, electric drives and batteries charged from the grid in, the hull widened to carry the batteries and a new wheelhouse fitted.
Rockland–Thurso is one of several private crossings on the Ottawa River, and they do not all keep the same calendar. CBC reported in March 2026 that the Bourbonnais ferry between Gatineau and Ottawa works all year, while Ecolos had not yet reopened. Further downstream, the Oka–Hudson ferry crosses the much wider Lake of Two Mountains on a May-to-November season and switches to an ice bridge in winter.
On Clarence Island, at 700 Onesime Guibord Road in Clarence-Rockland, Ontario. The approach is via Dallaire Street and the bridge to the island. It is not in downtown Rockland.
$9 CAD. Ecolos charges by vehicle and has no passenger fare; even walkers cross free. A 2.5% fee is added if you pay by card.
05:00 to 22:00 from Monday to Friday, and 06:00 to 22:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. It runs back and forth within those hours rather than to a timetable.
When ice forms on the Ottawa River. As of 29 September 2026 Ecolos had named no last day for its 2026 season, and its site still had the crossing marked open.
Yes, within limits. A vehicle and trailer under 40 feet overall pays $14 and one over 40 feet pays $19, and nothing longer than 60 feet or heavier than 31 metric tonnes can board.
Yes. Ecolos replaced the diesel propulsion the boat had when it belonged to Ontario's Ministry of Transportation with electric drives powered by batteries recharged from the grid. Being a cable ferry, it has no propeller.
Yes, for $2 each way. People on foot pay nothing.