Canada has many forgotten corners. All over the country, there are places that used to be filled with activity, but now, they’re completely silent. Some of them have rather strange stories to match.
Here are ten abandoned places in Canada with eerie backstories. With Halloween coming up, which of these would you like to check out & why?
Tranquille Sanatorium, British Columbia
Sanatoriums are always a little creepy, and especially the abandoned ones. The Tranquille Sanatorium is one of them. It opened in 1907 as a tuberculosis hospital before being turned into a psychiatric facility & was eventually closed down in the 1980s.
The site has many long tunnels and dozens of abandoned buildings. It even has a farm area. Some visitors claim it’s haunted, but others say they just hear the silence of the institution’s past.
Sainte-Jean-Vianney, Quebec
A section of Sainte-Jean-Vianney, Quebec, fell apart in 1971. The heavy spring rain turned the clay beneath the town into liquid, causing dozens of homes to be swallowed up. Sadly, 31 people died.
Survivors never moved back after the government declared the land unsafe. All that remains is grass and memories of where streets used to be.
Frank Slide debris field, Alberta
That’s not all for natural disasters. In 1903, a massive piece of Turtle Mountain broke loose & crashed into the town of Frank. It completely buried the houses and railways nearby, along with the majority of the mine. 90 people died.
Since the landslide was so dangerous, the rock has never been cleared, and the whole place feels more like a graveyard than a trail.
D’Arcy Island, British Columbia
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D’Arcy Island has a rather dark history. The government used it to exile Chinese immigrants with leprosy from the late 1800s to the 1920s.
They sent supply boats every few months, but with no medical help, many people died. You can still see the stone walls & foundations across the island today.
Merritton “Blue Ghost” Tunnel, Ontario
The Merritton Tunnel was built in the 1870s for the Grand Trunk Railway. However, the tunnel today is completely abandoned & sits underneath an old canal. Why?
Two trains collided just outside the tunnel in 1903, killing several workers and causing rail traffic to reroute. Officials sealed off the tunnel shortly after. Local people call it the “Blue Ghost” tunnel because they’ve apparently seen lights floating inside.
Minnewanka Landing townsite, Alberta
Most people don’t realize there’s an entire village hidden beneath the waters in Banff National Park. The original was submerged in the 1940s after the engineers raised the dam at Lake Minnewanka.
Today, divers have explored underwater to map its streets & old building foundations. But it’s still so creepy knowing that you can go on a boat right over a ghost town.
St. Joseph’s Training School for Boys, Alfred, Ontario
St. Joseph’s Training School for Boys was a reformatory school that ran from 1933 to 1973. It has a grim reputation. Numerous allegations of abuse & unexplained deaths emerged long after the school shut down.
Locals who have passed through the school claim you can still feel its history today. Apparently, it has the kind of silence that sticks around.
Screaming Tunnel, Niagara Falls, Ontario
The Screaming Tunnel got its name for a reason. It’s hidden off a side road near Warner Road & people say a young girl once died there. The legend says that lighting a match inside summons the ghost. You can apparently still hear her screams.
Whether or not the story’s true, one thing’s for sure, and that’s that the tunnel sure is creepy.
St. Louis ghost train site, Saskatchewan
Yes, the St. Louis train tracks disappeared long ago. But apparently, the trains didn’t. The stories say that you can still see lights gliding along the old line. Sometimes the light’s red, sometimes it’s white.
The lights are supposedly from a decapitated railway worker who’s still searching for his head. However, science says it’s probably just lights from the nearby highway.
Burwash Correctional Centre (Camp Bison), Ontario
You’ll find Burwash down a remote road in Sudbury. Or, at least, what’s left of it. Burwash was a prison that closed in 1975, and most of it was torn down, although the main block still exists.
You can also see the old inmate graveyard. Visitors to the remains claim to have seen a former prisoner or two, still wandering around.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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