Alberta
Banff Springs Hotel
It looks innocent enough, right? But according to some people, this hotel is one of the most haunted buildings…like, ever. There’s a ton of stories surrounding the ancient hotel (which has been open since 1888!), such as the tale of a bribe who burned to death on the hotel stairwell, and of the man from the “missing” room 873 who murdered his entire family that was sleeping in the room.
In a review of their stay, one person wrote:
“[My colleague] stayed alone in a separate room and felt strange vibes the entire night. Then, at 4 a.m., she was awakened by the sound of a crying baby in the hallway. When she put a pillow over her head, the sound immediately went away. It wasn’t until later, when I told her Banff Springs is known to have an actual crying ghost baby who was murdered along with her mother many years ago in the now-sealed Room 873, that she realized what she heard.”
Not all the ghosts are terrifying, however. According to legend, Sam McCauley was a bellman who swore to haunt the hotel after his death because he loved working there so much. Guests have reported having an “elderly Scottish man” help them with their bags, who the hotel workers recognize as the ghost of McCauley.
British Columbia
Hatley Castle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswXxQ3Yz_g
Built in 1908, Hatley Castle was originally built by James Dunsmuir for him and his family. By the time the building was converted into a military academy, however, the original family was still apparently sticking around — from the afterlife.
Cadets have reported being pushed out of bed by a specter, often accused of being the ghost of Mrs. Dunsmuir. Dunsmuir’s son — who died in World War I — has also been spotted walking around a lake on the castle grounds.
A maid, who allegedly committed suicide in the castle, is also seen skulking around the staircase.
People have also claimed to hear pots clanging, and other weird noises at night.
Nancy Arsenault, dean of the faculty of tourism and hotel management, was working late one night on the third floor. The main door leading to floor’s offices was shut. She heard a noise.
“It sounded like someone was pushing back and forth — my first thought was someone had forgotten their keys,” Arsenault said.
She opened the door and no one was there.
“I checked the windows and they weren’t open so I went back to work and heard the same noise, as though someone was trying to open and close the door.”
She checked again. No one was there. (SOURCE)
Manitoba
Fort Garry Hotel
This old hotel is riddled with old stories and legends. The epicenter of the building’s haunts seems to be the notorious room 202, where a guest hung herself in the closet after receiving news that her husband had died in a car accident.
Guests have reported a number of strange occurrences, including being awoken by a figure in a black cloak staring them down from the end of their bed. Former Ontario Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain reports that she was shocked awake when she felt the sensation of someone getting into bed with her while staying at the hotel.
Numerous other figures have been seen in the hotel, including a woman pacing up and down the hallway, and a woman weeping in the hotel lounge (sometimes thought to be the women from room 202).
Guests have shared some of their creepy experiences online, like this review from TripAdvisor:
“Now for the really fun part…I suspect the hotel is haunted. Granted, I watch far too much ghost related television, but there were some odd happenings in my room. Not scary, just odd. Being such an old hotel there certainly was a lot of hall noise such as doors opening and closing which was to be expected. It was the other creaking and sounds of items dropping that had me spooked. The sounds were close enough I would swear it came from in the room but when I would get up to look around and see if anything fell to the floor from the desk or bathroom vanity everything would be in its place.
I love historical spots and older hotels with lots of character and this spot really fit the bill. The staff members were great and provided top notch service. I recommend this spot if you like old world luxury and want to go back in time although you may need to sleep with your lights on if you are easily spooked.”
New Brunswick
Capitol Theatre
Capitol was one of two theaters built in the city of Moncton in the early 1900s. In 1926, a massive fire broke out in the theatre, resulting in the death of volunteer fireman Alexander “Sandy” Lindsay. Legend states that Lindsay still roams around the theatre, trying to rescue people from a blaze.
Others say that the building is haunted by the ghost of a girl who died falling down a staircase. Guests and employees alike have reported feeling unusual “cold spots” and eerie breezes with no obvious explanation.
Others have reported seeing a female figure at the ticket stands, who disappears with a second look.
Newfoundland and Labrador
The Headless Captain of Queen’s Road
It is said that in 1745 there was a captain who lived on Queen’s Road with his unhappy wife. The captain spent many months at sea, and in his absence, his wife began having an affair with a local merchant who hoped to take the lady for his own.
While at sea, the wife and her paramour plotted to get rid of the captain, so they could get married. Upon the captain’s return from sea, the merchant suitor attacked the captain, completely severing his head with a longsword.
The two then got married, but things were not well in paradise. The community had ostracized them both, correctly suspecting that they had something to do with the respected captain’s death. As their relationship crumbled, strange things began occurring in the house, including strange noises and brief sightings of the dead captain — without his head.
Drive to madness, the wife used a sword to cut her own throat, killing herself.
Today, people in the town of St. Johns and in the Queens Road area still claim to see a headless figure pacing through the night.
Northwest Territories
Nahanni National Park Reserve
In ancient times, tribes of natives refused to settle in the area of Nahanni because they sensed evil spirits in the area. Countless people — and according to ancient legend, whole native tribes — have just vanished out of this area. In 1906, two brothers were said to find gold in the area, but were found decapitated only a few weeks after making their claim. And they wouldn’t be the last to end up headless:
In 1917, a Swiss prospector by the name of Martin Jorgenson made his way to Nahanni to try his hand at finding gold. At first, Jorgenson seemed to have settled well in the valley. He built a cabin, ran a small mining operation, and was generally well-known by settlers in the area. When Jorgenson’s cabin mysteriously burned down to the ground, the prospector’s skeleton was found among the ashes without its head, and a search of the charred remains of the cabin found no trace of the skull. (Source)
In 1945, yet another another miner was found dead, and without his head. In 1969, a group of over forty people vanished without a trace, never found dead or alive.
Some blame the activity on the ghosts of disturbed native spirits, while others say UFOs or bigfoot-like creatures.
The area is so inaccessible and remote, we might never know the truth behind all these stories.
Nova Scotia
St. Francis Xavier University
TONS of creepy stories from this Canadian college. Students and staff claim to see elevators move up and down floors without an occupants, weird noises, and doors opening and closing for no reason.
Some stories are also specific to certain buildings. Popular rumors talk about the “blue nuns” that haunts the Mount St. Bernard Residence Hall at the University:
According to legend, the blue nun was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame who fell in love with a priest and became riddled with guilt over the affair. Eventually, she was overcome by despair and leapt to her death from a balcony in Gilmora Hall. She has lingered on the property ever since. In one version of the story, her beloved priest later hung himself and joins her in haunting the college. (Source)
This story isn’t ancient history though, there are many modern sightings of this rumored ghost:
In 2010, students attending a residence hall meeting were interrupted by what sounded like an antique phone ringing. An RA followed the sound to a second-floor payphone, but the ringing had stopped. Subsequent investigation found that the only public phone capable of receiving incoming calls was on the third floor, and that phone’s ringer did not match what the students heard.
Misbehaving electronics are apparently a recurring theme with the ghost. Students report lights and appliances turning on in the middle of the night, including a television that had been unplugged. Other phenomena include objects moving around on their own, including textbooks and push pins being strewn across dorm room floors. Doors slam, water faucets turn on, and chairs rearrange themselves – all apparently without human interaction. (Source)
Other weird occurances, like hearing footsteps following you, and having strange apparitions hanging out in lobbies and game rooms are apparently common as well.
Nunavut
Old Arivat Health Centre
The center, which is no longer in use, is flooded with many rumors of bizarre hauntings, which nobody seems to have an explanation for.
Some claim to have seen an elderly woman roaming the halls of the building, while others have seen shadow figures moving through the halls. A Youtube video (picture above) seems to show several weird apparitions in the retooled building.
Ontario
Château Laurier Hotel
Ghosts sure do love hotels, don’t they?
I’ve actually been to the Château Laurier Hotel, and while I didn’t experience anything overtly paranormal, I got some weird vibes there.
Others have had some pretty intense encounters, however. The Metro News told the story of one couple who had a particularly freaky experience in the hotel:
After the couple checked in, the woman was alone in the suite and felt uneasy, MacKay notes. Something unseen seemed to keep brushing up against her arm, he said. “Then, one night, she’s sitting in front of the mirror by the dresser taking off her makeup and in the reflection sees the closet door behind her slowly swing open.”
What spooked her most was when she was in the shower the next morning and distinctly felt a hand press up against her shoulder blade, MacKay said. It wasn’t her husband’s
That’s not all, though. A hotel employee, who worked there for over 30 years, claims that he experienced a number of bizarre, unexplainable things:
For instance he would arrange furniture the way he usually do he go away to get something then when he gets back the furniture that he arranged have changed position. He thought at first someone in the hotel was playing games with him but then he said it can’t be, it can’t be done in such a short period of time and this phenomenon kept repeating itself over and over and over. (Source)
Some claim the entity haunting the hotel is the spirit of Charles Melville Hays, who was one of the primary backers who helped raise money for the hotel. Extremely passionate about the potential of a “railway hotel,” Hays traveled to England to secure more funding. On his way back to Canada, he took the HMS Titanic, upon which he drowned. Many guests have said that the suite named in his honor seems to be the epicenter of the hauntings.
Prince Edward Island
West Point Lighthouse
While not overtly spooky, this old lighthouse (now inn) has some seriously paranormal stories associated with it. Employees who staffed the inn on nights there are no guests just close the place up and go home. Oftentimes, employees would have to return to the inn several times to turn off the lights, only to have them turn themselves back on again.
Some guests have reported seeing strange lights and shadows at the hotel, but virtually none of them have been reported as angry or hostile:
Some speculate that the ghost haunting the inn is the spirit of the original keeper, William MacDonald.
Some guests have also reported seeing a phantom ship sailing off the coast — sometimes characterized as a pirate ship.
Quebec
McGill University
(Okay, so actually Quebec has TONS of haunted places, so don’t hate me for picking this one. It was hard, ya’ll).
McGill University students seem to eager to share stories about the really creepy stuff that has happened on their campus, and it’s like, all over. The Arts Building is said to be haunted by the spirit of the school’s founder, James McGill, himself. Students have said to pass his specter in the halls, and oftentimes lights go on and off in the building without explanation.
In the Faculty of Science building, students and instructors alike both report feelings of “being watched” and some have claimed to see a man in a top-hat running frantically through the halls.
In the Osler Library, William Osler can find rummaging through his old books and papers. Students who have seen Osler’s ghost say that he seemed harmless, friendly even. The same cannot be said for the spirits haunting the Allan Memorial Institute. This building was used to test various types of psychosurgery, and people say that the tortured spirits of these failed mind experiments still roam the halls.
Saskatchewan
Fort San Sanitarium
The Fort San Sanitarium was originally established as a tuberculosis hospital, and serviced countless patients — many who died within its walls. Today the facility is an arts facility, where people report a number of very strange occurances.
One of the most commonly reporter spirit is an old staff member commonly referred to as “Nurse Jane.” People have said that they have seen her moving room to room, still attending to her duties. Other people have seen, wheelchairs and equipment move around the room by themselves in the older, unattended portions of the building. People have also reported seeing the spirt of a mother holding her baby, who is said to have a very “evil” presence.
Yukon Territory
Dawson City
Just decided to count the whole town, because there is so much creepy stuff here. In a building called the Commissioner’s House, people have reportedly seen apparitions, and heard scattered voices and footsteps. The Palace Grand Theatre is said to be haunted by “Klondike Kate,” a very famous show person who died in the town. Finally, the Westminster Hotel is supposedly haunted by a whole host of specters, causing unexplainable noises, weird footsteps, and the sound of crying. Staff at the hotel have claimed that things have vanished and reappeared constantly, causing them no end of hassle. 
