Famed Scottish-style castle in the Rockies, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has played host to many show-stopping weddings since it opened in 1888. But one wedding is said to have had a lasting legacy. Legend has it that in the 1920s one bride’s special day took a tragic turn as she tripped on her dress and fell down a staircase to her death. Her ghost is regularly spotted on hotel’s back stairwell and loitering in the grand ballroom. The so-called Ghost Bride is just one of the hotel’s famous phantoms – there’s also Sam the Bellman, a friendly former worker.
The site of a 1759 battle in the Seven Years War between France and Britain, the Plains of Abraham are now part of a major urban park in Québec City's Montcalm district known as the Battlefields Park. But ghosts of its tumultuous past still linger. Visitors have reported seeing ghostly figures of soldiers in uniform roaming about the place, especially around 13 September, the anniversary of the battle. The smell of cannon smoke is also periodically detected wafting through the air.
Built in 1875, the West Point Lighthouse is a picturesque structure on PEI’s charming coast but like many marine buildings it's steeped in tales of hauntings. It’s said that ghosts of former lighthouse keepers visit the historic landmark, mischievously turning lights on and off. The form of a flaming phantom ship has also been spotted in the water of the Northumberland Strait from the lighthouse, as well as by people travelling on nearby ferries. A snake-like creature lurking offshore is another one for guests at the Westpoint Lighthouse Inn to watch out for.
Opening in 1913, the grand railway hotel Fort Garry Hotel is a jewel of old Winnipeg with a colourful and at times spooky history. Numerous guests and staff at the towering fortress-like building have reported hearing phantom footsteps and mysterious crying. Even the sight of blood has been witnessed seeping through the walls. The bulk of the supernatural action is said to have taken place in room 202. In 2000, a politician reported she felt the presence of a ghost in that particular room.
William Lyon Mackenzie King was the tenth and longest-serving president of Canada, best known for leading the country through the Second World War. Not many people knew that he was also a practising spiritualist – until his diaries were made public posthumously – who would communicate with his mother, his dog, Franklin D Roosevelt and other deceased spirits via mediums and seances. King’s expansive estate is open to the public and visitors can go on ghost tours to see if they can feel the presence of his supernatural friends or even of the late PM himself.
This dilapidated building in Tranquille, near Kamloops in British Columbia’s interior, is as spooky as it looks. Opened in 1907 on a ranch, the facility was originally named the King Edward Memorial Sanatorium and housed tuberculosis patients, and later mentally disabled patients. The building was abandoned in 1983 but in recent years a group called Tranquille Farm Fresh has run guided heritage tours. Some visitors have reported hearing the sounds of ghost mothers crying for their lost children and kids playing, as well a general sense of eeriness.
A large and relatively isolated historic hotel, the Algonquin certainly looks foreboding – and ghost-hunters won’t be disappointed as it’s got a spine-chilling reputation. Thankfully, the Algonquin’s resident ghosts are friendly – there have been sightings of deceased staff members, such as a bellhop who loved his job so much that he never left. But tragedy lurks too in the form of a sobbing jilted bride and a woman in white who’s been spotted wafting about the now off-limits rooftop tower. The hotel opened in 1889, but much of the original building burnt down in 1914.
Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame is found in an imposing century-old building that used to be the head office of the Bank of Montréal. Well before the visitor attraction moved in during the 1990s, there had been rumours that the building was haunted by a ghost named Dorothy (or Dorothea). It’s believed she was the spirit of a young bank employee who took her own life here, most likely in the 1950s.
The city of St John’s is known for its deep-rooted history, friendly feel and pretty, colourful houses but it’s also rife with spooky stories. In fact, the entire downtown is apparently haunted. One paranormal hot spot is the old LPSU Hall (now home to the Resource Centre for the Arts) where spooks have been spotted in its theatre seats. Another resident spectre is Catherine Snow, who was hanged at a now-demolished courthouse, and is often seen around town. Ghost-hunters can take a ‘Haunted Hike' of St John’s historic streets and buildings to get the full scoop.
This youth hostel is usually bustling with carefree backpackers (it’s currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions), but for over 100 years it was a prison, complete with a public execution site. It retains plenty of original features like its stone walls, iron doors and the solitary confinement cell which hardy guests can opt to stay in. There are daily tours to death row too. Numerous spooky sightings have been reported by guests, most specifically of the ghost of Patrick J Whelan. He was publicly hanged here in 1869 for a murder he claimed he didn’t commit and buried on the property.
A Designated Yukon Historic Site, the Caribou Hotel has stood in the town of Carcross since 1898 when the Klondike Gold Rush saw prospectors flood in to the region. The handsome heritage hotel is currently being restored to its former glory days with plans to open it as a boutique hotel. However, some former residents are still lurking about. The ghost of former owner Bessie Gideon is said to have been kicking around the hotel since her death in 1933, reportedly slamming doors, filling bathtubs with bubbles and appearing in windows.
This fascinating 1817 building was first constructed as a schoolhouse and later became a funeral home that laid out the bodies of victims of both the sinking of the Titanic and the 1917 Halifax explosion. It’s been a restaurant since 1975, but some lost souls are believed to remain. Nameless ghosts have been known to play with the building’s many sinks, to tap people on the shoulder and break ashtrays. Once an apparition reportedly left a red handprint on a server’s face, as if it had slapped her. Shudder.
One of Canada’s most famous historic prisons, Toronto’s Don Jail was built in 1864 and had a reputation for being brutally overcrowded. It also executed a number of prisoners, usually by hanging, with bodies buried in unmarked graves. The building is now used for administration by Bridgepoint Healthcare, but many believe that the spirits of some wretched prisoners still lurk within. Over the years, including when it was still an active jail, people claimed to hear disembodied screams and the rattling of chains.
Fort Edmonton Park is a living history museum, packed full of heritage buildings that date all the way back to the 1840s, including the so-called “Big House”, pictured here. Many are rumoured to have brought their ghosts to the park with them. One such haunted property is the Firkins House, a 1912 home that was donated to the park in the 1990s. The house’s most recent residents claim to have witnessed all kinds of hair-raising paranormal activity, including various apparitions visiting the children at night.
As the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes, mystery and legend swirl about this spooky stone structure on Toronto Island. One of its keepers, JP Radelmüller (also referred to as JP Radan Muller), is said to haunt Gibraltar Point after he was murdered here in 1815, allegedly by drunken soldiers. Human bones, including a jawbone believed to belong to the ill-fated lighthouse keeper, were reportedly found on the site in 1904. In the 1980s, a maintenance worker claimed he saw another bone but when he returned the next day it had disappeared.
Hosting fun-packed theatrical productions for audiences of all ages, the Kings Playhouse in Georgetown doesn’t appear particularly menacing but a sinister history lurks beneath it. Literally. The original building, which was built in 1887, burnt to the ground in early 1983, revealing that the theatre sat on a gravesite for deceased sailors. After the community theatre was rebuilt, various paranormal anomalies have occurred, believed to be the work of the ghost of Captain George.
Casino Regina is a favourite of Saskatchewan’s high rollers, but the building’s history goes way beyond the era of slot machines and blackjack tables. A former train station built in 1912, the entertainment hub has been linked to various hauntings since the 1930s when an image of a ghostly figure appeared in a photograph taken of an empty room. The picture is now on display at the casino. Staff have also claimed to have felt the chilling presence of deceased bootleggers who once used the train station’s tunnels to transport illegal goods.
Picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake isn’t just known as the heart of Ontario wine country – it’s also considered by many to be Canada’s most haunted town. At the centre of the Victorian-era town’s paranormal activity is Fort George National Historic Site. A key fort during the War of 1812, it was ambushed by American soldiers in 1813 with many deaths. The best way to learn about the site’s turbulent past and potentially spy the tragic soldiers that still haunt the fort is on a ghost tour.
Luxury hotel Château Frontenac is one of old Québec’s most magnificent landmarks. It’s also home to one of Canada’s most distinguished ghosts. Built in the 1890s, the hotel is named after Louis de Buade de Frontenac, governor-general of New France. Even though Frontenac died in the late 1600s, the hotel was built on the site of his old stomping ground and he’s rumoured to pace the grand hotel’s halls. He’s not alone either: guests have also seen the figure of a mysterious woman in white.
The area around the town of Drumheller was once rife with coal mines and this inactive wooden tipple mine (now a historical site) is the last one standing. As mining was a dangerous business, the Atlas Coal Mine saw plenty of tragedies in its time and the spirits of lost souls are said to haunt the site. One resident spook is the wife of a miner who has often been seen running into the mine office to warn the manager of an explosion below.
If you’re hunting for ghosts in Vancouver, the lively neighbourhood of Gastown is the place to be. From the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant to the Lamplighter Pub, the historic quarter is allegedly chockful with phantoms. However, the most haunted place of them all is said to be Waterfront Station, on the western edge of Gastown. Here apparitions are regularly said to appear, from women dressed as flappers and little old ladies to long deceased train operators.
We all know about The Phantom of the Opera, but how about the ghosts of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre? This historic downtown Toronto theatre complex is known for its top-tier events, but theatre-goers will also find spooky presences like the fragrant Lavender Lady. She's said to haunt the theatre’s staircase and lifts, making herself known by sending temperatures plummeting and leaving a faint scent of lavender in the air.
When most people think about hauntings they usually think about dark and dusty historical buildings, not beautiful Arctic towns. But Nunavut’s remote Rankin Inlet has a reputation for paranormal activity. The community’s fire hall in particular has been a hotbed of unexplained activity with reports of strange sounds, eerie vibes and the sighting of a little girl who vanished into the night.
With all those historical buildings and dusty bookshelves to hide behind, a university campus is the perfect place for ghouls and ghosts to lurk. StFX University in Nova Scotia is said to be the home of the Blue Nun, the ghost of a sister who jumped to her death after her affair with a priest came to light. The priest also apparently took his own life and now the two of them haunt the campus together, playing tricks on students living in residence in the Gilmora Hall.
Winnipeg’s oldest home, Seven Oaks House was built for John and Mary Inkster in the mid-1800s. It’s possible that the couple still reside in the atmospheric house, which is now a fascinating little museum. Or perhaps it's lost souls from the Battle of the Seven Oaks, which took place on the grounds, who account for the strange sounds, misplaced items and mechanical interruptions that staff have noticed over the years.
An impressive natural wonder near Québec City, Montmorency Falls attracts many visitors with a suspension bridge spanning the top of the dramatic waterfall. But the scenic beauty spot is apparently haunted by The Lady in White, the ghost of a young woman named Mathilde who threw herself into the falls after her solider fiancé was killed in battle in the mid-18th century. To this day, her tragic image is said to appear in the mist of the falls, before tumbling down towards the Saint Lawrence River below.
The remote and ravishingly beautiful Nahanni National Park Reserve in northern Canada’s Northwest Territories has a very spooky reputation. Also known as the Valley of the Headless Men, the foggy river valley is said to have claimed the lives of prospectors and other adventurers who went missing in the rugged area. There have also been reports of UFO sightings, unexplained plane crashes and signs of Bigfoot-like creatures in the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The birthplace of the city of Halifax, the Citadel was erected overlooking the harbour in 1749 as part of a defensive system. Unsurprisingly there have many spooky sightings at the age-old site over the years. The fort is apparently riddled with the ghosts of soldiers (and their heartbroken lovers), military prisoners and other poor souls who occasionally make themselves seen or heard to unsuspecting visitors.
The city of Victoria is steeped in ghostly goings-on. One of its most famously spine-tingling venues is the Gothic-style Empress Hotel. While enjoying an opulent afternoon tea, guests might spy the ghost of Francis Mawson Rattenbury, the British architect who designed the grand castle-style hotel. Although Rattenbury was murdered and buried in England in 1935, his ghost is often seen roaming through the halls of the hotel while swinging a cane.
This ornate mansion overlooking Victoria is full of stories. It was built in the late 1800s by wealthy Scottish immigrant Robert Dunsmuir who sadly died before his dream home was completed. After the coal baron’s wife also died, the grand building served as a military hospital in 1919 and later as a college and music conservatory. Naturally, the National Historic Site is completely haunted. From a lone woman standing in the ballroom and children running down hallways to a piano that plays by itself, spine-tingling sightings abound.