Canada's industrial century produced some of the most architecturally ambitious factory buildings in the British Empire — rubber plants, cotton mills, grain elevator complexes and steel mills that made cities and then left them when the economics changed. The Kaufman Rubber Company's Queen Street complex in Kitchener. The Marysville Cotton Mill that employed 1,000 workers on the Nashwaak River. Grain Silo No. 5 towering 60 metres above the Old Port of Montreal. Here are the 5 best abandoned factories in Canada, selected from our Abandoned Places Map Canada — 2,500+ GPS locations across Canada.
1. Grain Elevator No. 5 – Old Port of Montreal, Quebec — 1906 Concrete Grain Silo Complex, Abandoned Since 1994, 60 Metres Above the St. Lawrence Waterfront (Known Location)
Grain Elevator No. 5 in the Old Port of Montreal is the defining industrial monument of the city's St. Lawrence economy — a massive concrete grain storage complex built from 1906 onward that handled prairie wheat flowing east through the St. Lawrence Seaway. At its peak it stored 8 million bushels; abandoned since 1994, the concrete towers rise 60 metres above the Old Port waterfront in spectacular brutalist silhouette. The most iconic and most photographed abandoned factory in Canada.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Grain Elevator No. 5 Montreal
2. Marysville Cotton Mill – Marysville, New Brunswick — 1880s Canada's Largest Cotton Mill, Victorian Company Town Still Intact on the Nashwaak River, National Historic Site (Known Location)
Alexander Gibson's Marysville Cotton Mill was the largest cotton manufacturing complex in Canada when it opened in the 1880s — a complete Victorian company town on the Nashwaak River employing over 1,000 workers. The original brick mill buildings, the worker housing rows and the Victorian townscape of Marysville survive as a National Historic Site. One of the most architecturally complete and most historically significant Victorian factory complexes in Atlantic Canada.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in Canada →
3. Kaufman Rubber Company – Kitchener, Ontario — 1907 Victorian Rubber Goods Factory, Original Brick Complex on Queen Street, Canada's Rubber Capital (Known Location)
Founded in 1907, the Kaufman Rubber Company was one of the largest rubber goods manufacturers in Canada — producing footwear and industrial rubber products from its massive brick factory complex on Queen Street in Kitchener. Portions have been partially converted to lofts while significant original sections of the Victorian factory floor, the loading dock infrastructure and the rubber processing building remain in atmospheric semi-abandonment. One of the most architecturally significant Victorian factory buildings in Ontario. GPS coordinates available with our map.
4. Abandoned Mauricie Paper Mill – Quebec — 1910s-1940s Pulp and Paper Complex on a Shield River, Five-Storey Digester Tower and Cathedral-Scale Turbine Hall Still Standing, Quebec Interior (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1910s-1940s pulp and paper mill on a Mauricie Shield river — the five-storey digester tower still rising above the treeline, the turbine hall built directly over the original river dam with its cathedral-scale interior and the chemical processing buildings flanking the river bank. The paper machine building retains original infrastructure from the newsprint era; the company town housing rows stand in progressive boreal reclamation beyond the factory perimeter. Quebec's Mauricie paper industry powered the province's economy for a century; this mill is one of the most dramatically scaled abandoned factories in Canada. Included in our exclusive Canada map.
5. Abandoned Hamilton Steel Mill – Ontario — 1900s-1970s Integrated Steel Plant, Blast Furnace Stack and Rolling Mill Building Still Visible on Hamilton Harbour, Canada's Steel Capital (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1900s-1970s integrated steel plant on Hamilton Harbour — the blast furnace stack still standing above the waterfront, the rolling mill building with its sawtooth roofline and the harbour-front industrial infrastructure of the city that made the steel that built Canada. Hamilton's Stelco and Dofasco plants lined the harbour for a century; consolidation and deindustrialization progressively emptied sections of the vast plant. The combination of the steel heritage, the harbour waterfront and the Niagara Escarpment visible behind the industrial ruins creates one of the most characteristically Canadian industrial landscapes. Featured in our Canadian abandoned places map.
Safety Tips
- Asbestos and PCBs: universal in pre-1980 Canadian industrial buildings — always wear an FFP2 mask and never touch electrical equipment or insulation
- Structural scale: factory buildings have extreme overhead hazards from deteriorating crane systems — always wear a hard hat and never stand under overhead equipment
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned factory in Canada?
Grain Elevator No. 5 in the Old Port of Montreal — a 1906 concrete grain storage complex abandoned since 1994 whose towers rise 60 metres above the Old Port waterfront. The defining industrial monument of Montreal's St. Lawrence grain trade.
What was the Kaufman Rubber Company?
One of Canada's largest rubber goods manufacturers, founded in Kitchener in 1907. The massive brick factory complex on Queen Street made Kitchener Canada's rubber capital; portions remain in semi-abandonment alongside converted loft spaces.
Why did Quebec's paper mills close?
The collapse of the printed newspaper industry through the 2000s-2010s eliminated the primary market for Canadian newsprint. Mills that had operated continuously for a century closed within a decade; the Quebec Shield river valleys where they operated now contain some of the most dramatically scaled industrial ruins in Canada.
🎯 Summary
Canada's abandoned factories range from a Montreal grain elevator complex whose concrete towers still dominate the Old Port waterfront, to Canada's largest Victorian cotton mill in New Brunswick and a Hamilton steel plant on the harbour where Canada was literally built. Each of these 5 abandoned factories in Canada is a monument to a century of industrial ambition.
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