Churches
As of 2025, Cardinal is home to four active churches: a United, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal Church. Conestoga rests at a depth of only , with the top portion of the steeple engine protruding above the river. According to divers, the wooden portions of the Conestoga site are well preserved, however the top portions of metal are badly ice-damaged and rusted, and are quickly deteriorating. Looters and "wreck-stripping" has apparently caused significant damage to the site, and a blade from Conestogas propeller was broken off by a dynamite blast during a salvage attempt gone wrong.
Two less popular dive sites are also commonly associated with the Edwardsburgh/Cardinal township, SS Ralph T. Holcomb, and Fleur Marie. Apparently just east of Cardinal, the hull of SS Ralph T. Holcomb lies in the old canal bank. This ship was purchased by the Canada Starch Company for hauling coal sometime in the early 1900s before it was sunk.
Galop Canal
thumb|right| Galop Canal in 2015
The Galop Canal was opened in 1846 and was used until the 1950s. The canal allowed ships to bypass the rapids of the Saint Lawrence River near Cardinal and Iroquois. Construction began in 1844, and was done without machinery, but instead by use of hand tools such as axes, wheelbarrows, and shovels. The men worked for around 14 hours and were paid 50 cents each day.
In the 1950s, the St. Lawrence Seaway was created and new locks were built in Iroquois for large, ocean-going ships. Present day, Galop Canal is a popular location amongst locals for swimming and picnics, as well as diving. The wreck of Weehawk is located in Lock 27 at Galop Canal; divers are able to view this site and drift with the current of the Saint Lawrence River to the nearby Conestoga dive site.
Education
The first public school in Cardinal, built around 1843, was a two-storey frame building originally standing at the corner of First and Henry Street. This school was later moved to the corner of New and James Street. Although it is unclear when the school closed, the building was used by the Canada Starch Company as a storehouse before becoming a duplex in 1891, as it remains in 2016. During the mid-1800s, there were two additional one-room log schoolhouses operating in Cardinal, one at the west end of the village and one about a mile east of the village. The exact years of their operation are unknown.
In 1872, the first schools were replaced by a two-room brick structure along Dundas Street, called Dundas Street Public School. As enrolment increased, a frame building was constructed west of the brick school to house the younger children. This school served as both an elementary and continuation school until 1911, when a separate continuation school was erected due to overcrowding.