Canada's ghost towns are the most poignant category of abandonment in a country shaped by resource extraction and agricultural settlement — company towns built overnight and abandoned in a season, prairie communities that outlasted their railway and Victorian mill towns frozen in the decade their industry collapsed. Val-Jalbert's 70 buildings frozen since 1927. Rowley's saloon with bottles still on the bar. Bankhead inside Banff National Park. Here are the 5 best abandoned ghost towns in Canada, selected from our Abandoned Places Map Canada — 2,500+ GPS locations across Canada.
1. Val-Jalbert – Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec — 1901 Company Town Abandoned Overnight in 1927, 70+ Buildings Preserved, Ouiatchouan Falls Behind the Village (Known Location)
Val-Jalbert was built from scratch in 1901 by the Ouiatchouan Pulp Company beside the spectacular 72-metre Ouiatchouan Falls — a complete company town with mill, worker housing, church, convent school and all community infrastructure. When the mill closed in 1927 residents left almost overnight, taking their possessions and leaving the buildings intact. Over 70 original structures still stand as a provincial historic park — worker cottages, the company store, the convent and the falls visible above the rooftops. The most completely preserved abandoned company town in North America and the best ghost town in Canada.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Val-Jalbert
2. Rowley – Alberta — 1900s Prairie Agricultural Town, Saloon with Bottles Still on the Bar, General Store and Grain Elevators Still Standing (Known Location)
Rowley is one of the best-preserved prairie ghost towns in Canada — a turn-of-the-century agricultural service community northeast of Drumheller whose original wooden buildings still stand in striking condition. The general store, a hotel, the grain elevators and the saloon with bottles still on the bar create one of the most complete surviving small-town streetscapes on the Alberta prairie. Local preservation efforts have kept the buildings accessible. The combination of the intact townscape and the enormous Alberta sky makes Rowley one of the most photographically extraordinary ghost towns in Canada.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in Canada →
3. Bankhead – Banff National Park, Alberta — 1903 CPR Coal Company Town of 1,000 Residents, Closed 1922, Lamp House and Foundations on Cascade Mountain (Known Location)
The CPR built Bankhead in 1903 to mine coal from Cascade Mountain for locomotive fuel — a complete company town of 1,000 residents whose coal sustained the mountain railway crossing. Closed in 1922 when the mine became uneconomic; most structures were demolished but the original lamp house, building foundations and the interpretive trail tracing the town layout are accessible via a short hike inside Banff National Park. The most scenically situated ghost town in Canada — Rocky Mountain peaks rising behind ruins that fuelled the railway that crossed them. GPS coordinates available with our map.
4. Abandoned Saskatchewan Prairie Ghost Town – 1910s Complete Branch-Line Community, Grain Elevator, Hotel, General Store, Church and School All Still Standing, Central Saskatchewan (Exclusively on Our Map)
A complete 1910s Saskatchewan prairie service community on a removed branch line — five original buildings still standing including the wooden grain elevator with its weathered CPR-era lettering, the two-storey hotel with original room furniture partially in place, the general store with period shelving, the white clapboard community church and the one-room school with desks still in rows. One of the most completely intact multi-building prairie ghost town sites in Canada — a full community frozen in the decade the branch line was pulled. Available on our Canada Urbex Map.
5. Abandoned Newfoundland Outport Settlement – 1800s Atlantic Fishing Community Resettled by Government, Saltbox Houses, Fish Flake Frames and Wharf Pilings Still Standing Above a Protected Cove (Exclusively on Our Map)
A resettled Newfoundland outport community relocated under the federal-provincial resettlement programs of the 1950s-1970s — a cluster of original saltbox houses with their distinctive steep-pitched rooflines still standing above a sheltered Atlantic cove, the fish flake frames where split cod was dried in the sea wind still partially intact and the community wharf pilings still reaching into the tidal water. The settlement stands exactly as its residents left it; the Atlantic salt air and isolation have reshaped it year by year since. One of the most emotionally powerful ghost town landscapes in Canada. Included in our exclusive Canada map.
Safety Tips
- Prairie weather: Saskatchewan and Alberta ghost towns experience blizzards in winter and severe thunderstorms in summer — always check forecasts before rural exploration
- Atlantic coastal conditions: Newfoundland outport sites require boat access — always check tide tables and marine forecasts before departure
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
❓ FAQ
What is the best ghost town in Canada?
Val-Jalbert in Quebec — a 1901 company town abandoned overnight in 1927 when the pulp mill closed, with over 70 original buildings preserved as a provincial historic park. The most completely preserved abandoned company town in North America.
What is Rowley ghost town?
A turn-of-the-century prairie service community northeast of Drumheller, Alberta, whose original buildings — including a saloon with bottles still on the bar — still stand in striking preservation. One of the best-preserved prairie ghost towns in Canada.
Why did Newfoundland outport communities get abandoned?
Federal and provincial resettlement programs from the 1950s-1970s relocated over 28,000 people from approximately 300 remote outport communities to larger service centres. Communities voted for relocation in exchange for financial incentives; the buildings were left in place and the Atlantic climate has been reshaping them ever since.
🎯 Summary
Canada's ghost towns range from a Quebec company town with 70 buildings frozen since 1927, to an Alberta prairie saloon with bottles still on the bar and Newfoundland outport communities where saltbox houses stand above the sea with no one left. Each of these 5 abandoned ghost towns in Canada is a different kind of community — and a different kind of ending.
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