Canada built some of the most architecturally ambitious hospitals in the British Empire — tuberculosis sanatoriums on lake shores, psychiatric campuses where thousands of patients lived for decades and Indian hospitals where Indigenous patients were subjected to experimental treatments. When deinstitutionalization, antibiotic breakthroughs and changing policy closed them, the buildings were left as the most haunting category of Canadian urbex. Here are the 5 best abandoned hospitals in Canada, selected from our Abandoned Places Map Canada — 2,500+ GPS locations across Canada.
1. Tranquille Sanatorium – Kamloops, BC — 1907 Tuberculosis Hospital, 20+ Buildings Above Kamloops Lake, BC's Most Famous Abandoned Place (Known Location)
Built in 1907 on the north shore of Kamloops Lake as a tuberculosis sanatorium, Tranquille grew into a complete self-sustaining campus of over 20 buildings — hospital wards, staff residences, a working farm, an abattoir and a powerhouse. After antibiotics ended the TB epidemic the campus converted to a school for people with developmental disabilities before closing in 1983. Over 20 original buildings still stand in spectacular decay above Kamloops Lake, the Thompson River landscape framing the institutional ruins. The most extensively documented abandoned hospital in Canada and one of the most discussed urbex sites in the country.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Tranquille Sanatorium
2. Riverview Hospital – Coquitlam, BC — 1913 BC's Largest Psychiatric Campus, Filmed Deadpool 2 / X-Files / Riverdale, Open Daily 6am-9pm (Known Location)
Riverview Hospital opened in 1913 as British Columbia's primary psychiatric institution — a campus of dozens of buildings holding thousands of patients at its mid-20th century peak. Closed in 2012, it became Canada's most-used film and television location: X-Files, Supernatural, Riverdale, Deadpool 2 and Watchmen have all used its atmospheric ward buildings and overgrown grounds. Accessible to the public daily 6am-9pm with security patrol. One of the most dramatically scaled and most widely recognised abandoned hospitals in Canada.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in Canada →
3. Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital – Etobicoke, Ontario — 1890 Kirkbride Campus on Lake Ontario, 4,000 Patients at Peak, Original Victorian Ward Buildings Still Standing (Known Location)
Built on Kirkbride principles in 1890 on the Lake Ontario shore in Etobicoke, the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital held up to 4,000 patients at its mid-20th century peak — a self-sustaining campus of bat-wing ward extensions, a working farm and therapeutic lakefront grounds. Closed in 1979 and now partially occupied by Humber College, significant original 1890 ward buildings remain in atmospheric semi-abandonment on the lakefront campus. The Victorian Kirkbride architecture and the Lake Ontario setting make it one of the most architecturally extraordinary abandoned hospitals in Canada. GPS coordinates available with our map.
4. Abandoned Victorian Psychiatric Campus – 1880s Kirkbride-Plan Institution, Central Administration Tower with Bat-Wing Ward Extensions, Underground Tunnel Network, Eastern Ontario (Exclusively on Our Map)
A complete 1880s Kirkbride-plan psychiatric campus in eastern Ontario — the original Gothic Revival central administration tower still dominating the surrounding landscape, the bat-wing ward extensions stretching either side and the underground tunnel network that connected all buildings year-round still intact beneath the campus. The self-sustaining farm infrastructure — barns, greenhouses and field boundaries — still visible on the surrounding grounds. One of the most architecturally complete and most historically significant abandoned hospital campuses in Canada. Available on our Canada Urbex Map.
5. Abandoned 1940s Federal Indian Hospital – Prairie Province, Original Multi-Storey Brick Ward Building Still Standing, Documented History of Segregated Indigenous Patient Care (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1940s federally operated "Indian hospital" on the Canadian prairies — a multi-storey brick ward building still standing on the original institutional grounds, the surrounding utility infrastructure partially intact. Built to segregate Indigenous tuberculosis patients from the general population, these federal institutions were the site of documented abuses including forced sterilizations, experimental treatments and inadequate care. Ground-penetrating radar searches have been conducted at several similar sites for potential unmarked graves. One of the most historically significant and most solemnly charged categories of abandoned hospital in Canada. Included in our exclusive Canada map.
Safety Tips
- Asbestos: universal in pre-1980 Canadian hospital construction — always wear an FFP2 mask in any enclosed ward, corridor or service tunnel
- Structural instability: hospital buildings have complex floor loading from removed equipment — always test floors before committing weight and avoid upper levels
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned hospital in Canada?
Tranquille Sanatorium near Kamloops, BC — a 1907 tuberculosis hospital campus with over 20 original buildings still standing above Kamloops Lake. The most extensively documented abandoned hospital in Canada.
Can you visit Riverview Hospital?
The grounds are accessible daily 6am-9pm with 24-hour security patrol and CCTV monitoring. Exterior exploration of the grounds is permitted; interior access requires authorization from BC Housing. No drones permitted.
What were Canadian Indian hospitals?
Federally operated hospitals built from the 1920s-1960s to segregate Indigenous patients — primarily tuberculosis cases — from the general healthcare system. Documented abuses included forced sterilizations, experimental treatments and inadequate care. Several sites have been investigated using ground-penetrating radar for potential unmarked patient graves.
🎯 Summary
Canada's abandoned hospitals range from a BC tuberculosis sanatorium with 20 buildings above Kamloops Lake to BC's most-filmed psychiatric campus and a Victorian Kirkbride asylum whose tunnel network is still intact. Each of these 5 abandoned hospitals in Canada carries a different layer of the country's institutional history — and the silence that followed when the last patients left.
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