Great River Road in Canada?

[AsphaltPlanet]

In the spirit of all things illogical, I thought that I'd show a photo that I took a few years ago of a Great River Road in Ontario.  Obviously, the Great River Road is a tourist route that follows the Mississippi River in the U.S.  Ontario has a Great River Touring Route along various routes in Northwestern Ontario, despite the fact that the area drains to the Arctic via the Nelson River.



Just one of those odd things.

[Alps]

But why is it the exact same spec sign?

[NE2]

It is or was continuous with the one in the U.S.

The province of Ontario became involved in the program in the 1950s because of the joint cultural ties of the Mississippi River states and Canada and because of the mutual interests in tourism and economic development. The Great River Road was extended north from the headwaters in northern Minnesota all the way to its northern terminus in Minaki, Ontario.

[AsphaltPlanet]

That's interesting.  I had no idea that the sign was sanctioned.  I had figured the Ontario Government had simply piggybacked the route designation without official permission.