Just like this society that had everything to prove, everything to build, Canal is a no frills utilitarian type family. This workhorse can tackle any demanding task, however, it retains a human look and feel familiar to this era where, even though industrialization was well under way, everything you came in contact with felt just a little more unique, a little warmer. 

The purpose of this family however was not to replicate a particular style from the era. It is more about capturing a specific mood. Its wide stance and opened counters give it a specific attitude. Its range of weights allows it to work perfectly well for text as well as for some display applications. Along with its italics and its very complete character set, it is ready to tackle the work that needs to be done. 

Even though the inspiration for Canal is clearly North American, like any good worker, it adapts to its environment. This family supports a wide range of languages using the roman alphabet. The OpenType features also take care of a lot of the workload usually associated with quality typesetting.

Canal has its punchcard ready. It just needs some work to do.