 In 1898 Booth created the Canada Atlantic Transit Company to operate steamships on the Great Lakes from Depot Harbour to Fort William, ON and in 1899 the Canada Atlantic Transit Company of the United States to operate between Depot Harbour and American ports such as Chicago, IL and Duluth, MN.During their early years, the ships of both companies, as well as other vessels operating under charter, regularly carried goods between the upper Great Lakes and Depot Harbour.These shipping routes linked the railway across eastern Ontario, Quebec to Vermont with other railways in western Canada and the United States which terminated at ports in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.