Background
He was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason.
He was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason.
He emigrated to the Canadas in 1817, and settled in Montreal. McKay also built two stone spans for the Union Bridge, which was the first bridge across the Ottawa River between Hull, Quebec and Bytown. The Commissariat building built by McKay in 1827 during the construction of the Rideau Canal now serves as home to the Bytown Museum and is the oldest surviving stone building in the city of Ottawa.
McKay was one of the few business leaders to remain in Bytown after the canal project was finished.
He bought land at the intersection of the Rideau River and Ottawa River and laid out a town, which he named New Edinburgh. McKay built a sawmill and a gristmill on land there.
He encouraged Scottish immigrants to come to the area and it became a prosperous industrial centre. He was also a founding trustee of Queen"s College.