Passage to Canada onboard British Ships was free, it was paid for by the British Government. After landing and clearing Quarantine the new arrivals went down the St. Lawrence and across the Great Lakes to Chicago, others went south to cross the border into New York State.

Using people as "Ballast" is ridiculous for the obvious reasons given above - It simply would not work period - forget about the, "Ah but it said on such and such a web site" - all the laws of physics and mathematical science are against the contention - It simply would not work.

By the bye, passage directly to a US Port was pretty restrictive financially, and the US did not want the Irish. This reluctance actually gave birth to the world-wide celebration known as St.Patrick's Day, according to Cecil Woodham-Smith in her book "The Great Hunger", the modern concept of St.Patrick's Day originated with the Irish communities in Chicago, Boston and New York, throwing a street party for their fellow citizens in order to boost their civic profile and acceptability - Don't know about you, but I think it worked rather well.