Canal is a typeface family inspired by the blue-collar, hard-working people of the late 19th and early 20th centuries labor force of the new continent.
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 underway, 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 open 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 take on 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 Latin alphabet. The OpenType features also take care of a lot of the workload usually associated with quality typesetting.