When it comes to haunted locations, Canada doesn’t disappoint. From haunted castles to haunted battlefields, the Great White North is a fantastic place for the paranormal enthusiast. If you’re courageous, why not book a room in one of Canada’s most haunted hotels?
Grab a hot beverage and enjoy the twelve most haunted hotels in Canada!
1. Banff Springs Hotel - Banff, Alberta
The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta has welcomed guests from around the world for over 125 years.
Often referred to as the “Castle of the Rockies” due to its unique castle-like appearance and its position overlooking the chalets and log cabins of the area, the hotel is a luxurious place to get away from it all. However, it does hide a secret or two behind its doors!
Reports of apparitions are rife around the hotel, with one bizarre story standing out from the rest. Many years ago, there was a tragic murder in the hotel, inside room 873, which has since been bricked up and made to look like the rest of the wall in the hallway.
Guests and staff have regularly spotted apparitions outside the room, with many believing it’s the ghosts of the family members murdered here.
There’s also the ghost of the burning bride. She is believed to have tragically died after catching her dress on the lit candles while walking up the staircase.
Unable to put out the fire and in a panic, the bride tripped and fell down the stairs breaking her neck. Her ghost has been seen dancing in the ballroom in a full wedding gown.
In some reports, people have seen flames coming from her dress as she dances. Other guests have witnessed her on the staircase, where she lost her life.
Learn more about the haunted Banff Springs Hotel
2. James Bay Inn - Victoria, BC
Only the third oldest hotel in all of Victoria, the James Bay Inn, opened in 1911, just three years after the Empress (also on our list), and was designed by the architect Charles Elwood Watkins.
Many reported that the activity here is continuous, with paranormal incidences occurring regularly. The Inn’s main claim to fame is that it was where the famous Canadian painter Emily Carr died.
The room where she died is now the men’s room at the pub, and she is not happy about this. She’s believed to be the cause of most of the hauntings here.
She’s reported to mess around with guests, phoning their rooms in the middle of the night with nobody on the end of the line and standing watching them as they sleep.
3. Windermere House - Windermere, Ontario
Standing proudly overlooking Lake Rosseau, this delightful-looking Victorian building has stood for over 150 years, having been built in 1870. Commonly referred to by locals as the “Lady of the Lakes,” Windermere House is Muskoka’s premier hotel and resort.
Though it’s not just the beautiful surroundings that entice guests, many ghost hunters have enjoyed what lies within too!
According to many reports from past guests and staff members, the main culprit for all the hauntings is the original owner, Thomas Aitken. He is said to knock on hotel room doors, and moves items around the hotel that he believed should have been placed elsewhere.
As well as Thomas, the ghost of a little girl has been seen, often standing next to guest’s beds, only for her to suddenly vanish after she’s been seen.
4. Hotel Fairmont Empress - Victoria, BC
Listed as a National Historic Site of Canada, this luxurious hotel was the first hotel to be built in Victoria.
Built in 1908, it’s played host to many distinguished guests, from world leaders to the pinnacles of showbiz. It’s little wonder that the hotel has a few ghost stories to tell with such a long history.
A regular report from guests and staff sees a man walking down the hall holding a cane, slender and sporting a mustache. He’s the ghost of the architect, Francis Rattenbury, who helped build the hotel.
The hotel is also home to the ghost of a maid continuing her daily routine, the apparition of a young girl, and the spirit of a worker who hung himself in 1960 in the building’s west tower.
5. Fairmont Château Laurier - Ottawa, Ontario
Château Laurier is a grand hotel with over 100 years of history seeping through its walls. The original owner Charles Melville Hays is believed to still haunt the hotel after he so tragically died before its grand opening on April 26, 1912.
Related: The 8 Most Haunted Hotels in Ontario
He was on his way home aboard the infamous Titanic from England after picking out some exquisite pieces of furniture for his hotel. His ghost is reported to break objects he doesn’t care for and open and close doors when he pleases.
With many staff believing him to be mean, is he overprotective of his baby, wanting to keep an eye on the hotel he so dearly loved?
Related: The Most Haunted Places in Ontario
You may be able to ask him yourself, as he’s been known to appear in front of guests walking down the hallways.
His ghost is reported to break objects he doesn’t care for and open and close doors when he pleases. With many staff believing him to be mean, is he overprotective of his baby, wanting to keep an eye on the hotel he so dearly loved?
You may be able to ask him yourself, as he’s been known to appear in front of guests walking down the hallways.
6. Fort Garry Hotel - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Built in 1903 by the Grand Trunk Railway, the Fort Garry Hotel was originally set to be named The Selkirk, though it was later decided it should be named after Upper Fort Garry, which once stood at the cross-section of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
Since its opening, the hotel has been a draw to many famous guests, including Queen Elizabeth, King George VI, Laurence Olivier, Louis Armstrong, Liberace, and many more.
Infamous for its haunted room 202, a woman committed suicide, hanging herself in the closet.
Terrifying reports emanate from this room, with guests reporting blood dripping from the walls and the ghost of a woman wearing a cloak hovering over the foot of their beds in the dead of night!
Her ghost has even been known to get into bed with guests, as former Ontario Liberal MP Brenda Chamberlain would attest.
Her ghost haunts the hotel lounge as well, having been witnessed by guests and staff alike crying in the corner. And she’s also been seen wearing a robe and walking down the hallway.
Learn more about the haunted Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg
7. Algonquin Resort - Saint-Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick
This impressive medieval-inspired hotel opened its doors in 1889, having been the St Andrews Land Company’s brainchild.
Under their ownership, the hotel thrived, enticing many visitors from the warmer climates in the US.
Due to its ever-rising popularity, the Canadian Pacific Railway purchased the hotel, which, together with other railway companies across North America, had a habit of building/opening grand hotels along their railway lines.
Believed to be the most haunted location in New Brunswick, the Algonquin is home to many ghosts. Perhaps the most infamous is the ghost of a jilted bride.
Checking in to room 473 on her wedding day, she was later left at the altar and is believed to have died of a broken heart shortly after, though not at the hotel.
Not long after her death, her spirit returned, and she has been moping about the place ever since.
Her ghost is seen wandering the grounds and room 473 in the dead of night.
Other reports are of a former staffer who pranks staff by rearranging the silverware in the dining room. The apparition of a bellhop has been known to help guests to their rooms, then disappears immediately after.
A common occurrence throughout the hotel is guests’ doorknobs being rattled, and things going missing only appear again in a completely different area.
8. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver - Vancouver, BC
Built in 1939 by architects John S. Archibald and John Schofield, The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is a Vancouver landmark and is regularly spotted on lists of the country’s most haunted places.
The “Lady in Red” is said to haunt the 14th floor of this hotel, with her apparition having been glimpsed by both guests and staff many times.
She often messes with the elevator, mysteriously stopping it on the 14th floor. Believed to be in good intent, the hotel has embraced her and named a cocktail after her in the hotel lounge.
9. Fairmont Royal York - Toronto, Ontario
Located in the center of downtown Toronto, the impressive Château-style Fairmont Royal York was built in 1929. Spanning 28 floors, it was the tallest building in Toronto and the tallest building in the British Empire until the erection of the Canadian Bank of Commerce a year later.
It’s believed to house more than four ghosts, with sightings of a gray-haired man proving most common. He’s regularly seen walking the hallways and is believed to be the ghost of a former employee who hanged himself on a staircase.
10. Fairmont Le Château Frontenac - Quebec City, Quebec
Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980, the Château Frontenac is Quebec City’s grandest hotel. Having been originally constructed in 1893, the hotel now spans more than 600 rooms over 18 floors.
You may have caught a glimpse of it already, as it’s often referred to as the most photographed hotel in the world due to its prominence in the city’s skyline.
If you spend a night at the Château Frontenac, you may very well run into one of its two known ghosts. There is a ghost of a woman wearing a nightgown known to scare guests in their sleep.
And there’s also the spirit of the 17th-century governor, Louis de Baude de Frontenac. He is believed to have died while he stayed at the previous Château on this site.
He was waiting for his fiancee, who was on her way back from overseas, to see him. His ghost is believed to haunt the halls of the Château to this day, still waiting for his long-lost love.
11. Marathon Inn Hotel, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
The Marathon Inn on Grand Manan Island was built in 1871 by old sea captain, James Pettes.
It was originally just one building, but after a lucky hand of cards, he won himself a property called Marble Ridge Inn which is subsequently moved to join the Marathon Inn as an Annex. It was during this move that three workmen lost their lives after the house slipped its moorings and landed on top of them.
At least one of these workmen is said to haunt the hotel to this day. Apparitions of a man have been seen walking up the staircase and floating through walls. Though descriptions of him seem to sound more like a french peasant than an English workman.
Rooms 35 and 36 seem to be the focus of activity with guests reporting coat hangers swaying inexplicably, and lights turning on and off by themselves.
12. The Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon
The Delta Hotels by Marriott Bessborough, more commonly known as The Bessborough, is a historic hotel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. An icon of Canadian history having opened in 1935, the hotel is one of Canada’s grand railway hotels.
The Bessborough is regarded as one of the most haunted locations in Saskatchewan and has had many ghost stories over the years.
One of the most famous ghosts is the man in the fedora. Guests and staff members have passed by a friendly sharp-dressed man in a fedora in the ballroom area, only to turn back and see he’s disappeared. He used to be a former employee that was murdered after attending a noise complaint.
The next spirit is a small tired-looking woman. The story goes if you try and speak with her she’ll run at you screaming, then disappear. Our advice, if you see her best to just keep walking!
The hotel also has a number of child spirits, who are very much having the time of their lives. Their laughter and running footsteps are heard, but staff members say they’ve never been seen.
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