 Locally, the canal brought new investments to the city of Bydgoszcz, creating new factories, brickworks and sawmills.In 1897, Bydgoszcz counted three times more workers and sailors than Gdańsk, and six times more than Poznań.Initially a city with wealth based on grain (storage and milling) imported from Poland, Bydgoszcz became at the eve of the 20th century a large center for trade and wood industry, thanks to its canal.