Canada is full of must-see attractions that are familiar to millions of people worldwide – but do all of those millions know the full story behind the country’s best-known spots? From clandestine bunkers and passageways to ghost stories and scientific phenomena, these are the secrets of Canada’s top destinations and attractions.
Niagara Falls is known as one of the world’s great natural wonders with many stories hidden behind those waters, but Niagara’s greatest secret is probably that the falls aren’t quite as natural as they appear. Largely manipulated by humans, the falls appear as they do today thanks to some major American-Canadian engineering projects to maximise the amount of water flowing through, thus increasing power. And so, the natural falls were given a facelift in 1950, leaving them looking like they do today.
Since it’s over 130 years old, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has plenty of hidden nooks and crannies. One of the castle-like property’s most chilling secrets is that it is rumoured to be home to some permanent guests of the undead variety. The friendliest ghost is that of a bride who reportedly died falling down the stairs in the 1920s and continues to appear in the hotel. There are rumours of more macabre tales and intentionally hidden rooms, but they’re far less substantiated.
Parliament Hill’s Centre Block is currently undergoing a major renovation, but hopefully the new plans won’t phase out the secret door situated in the office of the leader of the Official Opposition. The door is disguised as a panel on the side of the fireplace and features secret hinges. Unfortunately, there’s no mystery room on the other side; it’s just a handy way to get to the office next door.
These spectacular falls located just outside of downtown Québec City were once at the heart of a high-profile secret love affair. The regal Manoir Montmorency that sits at the top of the falls is an exact replica of a building that burned down in 1993. The original manor was built in 1780 and was later used by Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent (the father of Queen Victoria) and a married woman to carry on an affair over the course of 27 years.
Cheeky locals often tell gullible tourists visiting Lake Louise and Banff’s other glacial lakes that the waters’ intense turquoise colour is the result of the lake being drained every year so that the bottom can be painted blue. The colour actually comes from mineral deposits left by the ancient glaciers. Studies show that the increasing pace of the melt is changing the colour over time, turning some of the turquoise into a deeper blue.
With its colourful houses, beautiful seascapes and friendly population, the city of St John’s is a tourist attraction in itself. Thanks to its position on the eastern edge of the country, it’s also not uncommon for people to find hidden bunkers built in the Cold War era in their homes. There are other hidden passages throughout the city as well, believed to be used to store munition during the Second World War.
Vancouver’s beautiful Stanley Park is so full of secrets, there's even a walking tour dedicated to the park's sometimes sinister stories. The legends are seemingly endless, but one details the tale of a 1940s bank robber who told his girlfriend that he’d buried tens of thousands of dollars in the park. Neither she nor the police were ever able to find the money and many people believe that it’s still buried somewhere in the forest.
Montreal’s Mount Royal (aka 'The Mountain') is one of the city’s most famous attractions, complete with a tranquil urban park and a dramatic cross on the mountaintop. Next to the cross, visitors will find a plaque marking a hidden time capsule. The capsule was buried in 1992 and isn’t to be opened until 2142. The buried treasure inside consists of drawings and predictions of what the city’s school children thought the world would be like 150 years in the future.
Like many tall buildings in major cities, Toronto’s CN Tower is often lit up to reflect different holidays or events happening around the world, be it in celebration or as a memorial. What most people don’t know is that the tower is lit with over 1,330 LED lighting panels that can be used to light the tower in one of 16 million different possible patterns. The lights are all controlled digitally and can be changed with a few clicks on a keyboard.
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One of Canada’s most legendary backcountry hikes, the West Coast Trail is a picture of Canadian ruggedness. Many people who haven’t attempted the 47-mile (75km) hike don’t realise there are two restaurants along the trail. Hikers are advised to bring cash to take advantage of the food at both the Crab Shack and Nysom. Their locations make for a challenge and hikers can’t count on the restaurants always being open, but when they are, adventurers are in for a treat.
The historic Plains of Abraham represent one of the most pivotal battles in Canadian history and the site’s round Martello Towers are instantly recognisable. The four towers were completed in 1812 and while they look rudimentary to the naked eye, they’re actually filled with ingenious secrets of engineering. An exhibit at the site gives visitors a chance to explore all of those secrets in detail with a tablet-based tour to break down why there’s more to the towers than meets the eye.
Located on the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, L’Anse aux Meadows is off the beaten path, but as a landing point for Vikings over one thousand years ago, it is a major attraction for those interested in Norse history. A few years ago a new study of wooden artefacts uncovered a new secret hidden in the site’s peat: evidence that the Vikings visited the area as early as 1021.
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Victoria’s Inner Harbour is known for its posh British afternoon teas and pretty cultivated gardens, but if you look closely you’ll see striking markers of Vancouver’s Coast Salish community. Giant spindle whorls designed by artist, Butchie Dick, are placed throughout the city. Many of them are located on the busy Inner Harbour where the Coast Salish lived long before Victoria was established as a Canadian city.
The contents of the exhibition at Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights are all about revealing secrets that must come to light. It’s heavy stuff, but there are some more pleasant surprises hidden in the building’s awe-inspiring architecture. To the untrained eye, the exterior of the museum may look like a modern abstract marvel, but its shape represents elements of the Canadian landscape as well as the wings of a dove, to create a sense of hope for the future.
Known as one of Canada’s most stunning highways, Cape Breton Island’s sprawling Cabot Trail features plenty of places to stop, including a remote and largely unknown hideaway known as Meat Cove. Getting to the cove requires a slight detour from the main road, but it’s worth it to find this hidden fishing village. As the most northern settlement in Nova Scotia, it offers spectacular views of the Atlantic.
With its dozens upon dozens of wineries with expansive cellars, there are plenty of hidden spaces in BC’s lush Okanagan Valley. One of the most mysterious wine storage spaces in the valley is at Summerhill Pyramid Winery, which has a perfectly aligned replica of the Great Pyramid in Egypt on its property. Summerhill’s wines are aged in the pyramid and the winemakers swear that the unexplainable properties of the structure drastically improve the quality.
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As the only fortified North American city north of Mexico, Old Québec boasts over 400 years of history, with plenty of hidden details. The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is not Old Québec’s oldest building, but is probably the most famous. When there, look out for the Maltese Cross Stone, which originally was set in the Château Saint-Louis (now in ruins) by Charles Hunault de Montmagny, a Knight of the Order of Malta in 1647. It’s been sitting above the Frontenac’s pedestrian gate since 1892.
Canada’s dinosaur capital is renowned for its palaeontology museum and hoodoo rock formations, but road trippers should also seek out the Last Chance Saloon, located in nearby Wayne, well off the tourist trail. A true Wild West watering hole, the bar in the Rosedeer Hotel dates back to 1913 and has a colourful history – in the 1920s it was called The Bucket of Blood, alluding to the number of fights the miners got into here. These days it attracts bikers out for a country ride and visitors looking for a taste of history.
Author L.M. Montgomery didn’t actually live in the green-trimmed house that was the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, but it was the home of some distant relatives. Eventually those relatives, Ernest and Myrtle Webb, opened a small tearoom in their home for occasional visitors. Later, the Webbs became full-time Green Gables ambassadors, perhaps somewhat against their will when the PEI government bought out their home in 1937 to bolster tourism, allowing them to stay on as wardens.
The locks on the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa are an impressive feat of engineering. The eight locks are flanked by two of the city’s most famous buildings, with Parliament on one side and Fairmont Château Laurier on the other, but there used to be buildings related to the operations of the locks here too. You can still see ruins of the Royal Engineer’s Building, which was torn down in 1911 because of damage caused by railway vibrations.
With its wild beaches, rainforests, vibrant culture and excellent surfing opportunities, Tofino is one of BC’s top holiday spots. There are bears in the area, but they can be elusive – except for those who know the trick of visiting the Thornton Creek Fish Hatchery during salmon spawning season. In September and October visitors are welcome to come by the facility to see wild bears from the safety of a viewing platform. As a bonus, you’ll also learn about the lifecycle of salmon.
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, draw thousands of visitors to Canada every year, with many people choosing locations in the far north to increase their chances of catching the natural phenomenon – central Northwest Territories are hit with the light shows an average of 200 nights a year. One trick is to listen extra carefully as you watch the lights. People have long claimed that the aurora make a faint hissing noise that scientists have only recently confirmed is a real thing.
One of Canada’s most charming small towns, Lunenburg is filled with interesting heritage buildings that certainly carry their secrets, but there are some surprises out on the water as well. Visitors won't be surprised to know that there are plenty of fish onboard vessels on Lunenburg harbour, but there’s also a boat full of rum. The local Ironworks Distillery has a floating warehouse called the Black Beauty, where rum ages for two to five years in the sea air.
You’ll find many well-known attractions along the road from Lake Louise to the town of Jasper – the Columbia Icefields and its adjacent Skywalk, Athabasca Falls and Peyto Lake , for example – but few people know about the quieter Herbert Lake. Swimming is not usually recommended in glacial lakes since the water is so cold, but this one is equipped with an old diving board for brave souls who want to jump in on a hot mountain day.
Despite its remote northern location, the town of Churchill has become extremely popular thanks to its wildlife tours, offering visitors a chance to see polar bears and whales on the same trip. While the bears deserve – and certainly get – most of the attention, there are some other oddities in or near town, including the wreckage of both an old cargo plane named Miss Piggy, a rusted MV Ithaca ship and, most interestingly, a retired rocket research range.
The spectacular mountains and clean waters of the Northwest Territories’ Nahanni National Park are so remote and untouched, they may seem eerie to some – or it may be their secrets that make some visitors feel uneasy. Known to some as 'the Valley of the Headless Men', Nahanni has been the site of many seemingly supernatural deaths and even UFO sightings over the years. Even the Dene people who have been on the land for 10,000 years tell tales of strange happenings.
The Bay of Fundy's famously extreme tides mean that when the tide is out the secrets of the sea floor – from the lower parts of cliffs to rock formations and underwater caves – are fully exposed. Visitors who time things right can see hidden sea life, fossils and underwater plants. There’s even a chef who offers low-tide fine dining dinners on the ocean floor.
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The Calgary Stampede is a huge entity, with its rodeo, live music, carnival rides and food – it’s almost impossible for visitors to see everything during the 10-day festival of Western culture. One of the best hidden spots at Stampede Park is the Western Oasis, a sophisticated refuge with a wine garden and an art gallery featuring high-end work from local artists. It’s the perfect spot to beat the heat after a long day of fun on the midway.
One of the most photographed attractions in Canada, the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove is a sight to behold. Most visitors assume that it’s named after St. Margaret’s Bay, the body of water it sits on (Peggy is, after all, a diminutive of Margaret). That may be the case, but another story tells the tale of a young woman named Peggy who was left on the shore by a shipwrecked boat. As the sole survivor of the crash, she stayed in the area, possibly lending it her name.
On your visit to the historic Capilano Suspension Bridge – an extraordinary walkway that stretches over the forest canopy right in the middle of North Vancouver – don't be offended if you hear someone call you a 'tramp'. The bridge was originally built as a hemp rope contraption by George Grand MacKay, who would invite friends to his cabin for some outdoor adventure. The group called themselves the Capilano Tramps.