Guide to Canada’s mural cities, towns, villages

For decades, cities around the world have encouraged artists to create murals on building walls in their city centres to make the neighbourhoods more attractive to both residents and tourists. In some cases, the murals have become a tourist attraction, but in other cases the mural just fade away. It is a bit of a gamble. The odds of the murals attracting tourists long term are not that great. You would have better odds of winning at the new betting sites in Canada.

Cities that show up most often as the best place for tourist to find murals include Melbourne, Australia,London, U.K., Berlin, Germany and Lisbon, Portugal. Melbourne is famous for its alley murals and, of course, Berlin is famous for the Berlin Wall, now a canvas for murals.

Canada has its fair share great murals not only in the big cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, but smaller towns like Lacombe, Alberta and Chemainus, British Columbia are also worth a visit if you are in the area.

Berlin Wall has become a popular place for tourist to take selfies.

BUMP in Calgary

BUMP aka Beltline Urban Mural Project started in 2017 and is perhap the most ambitious mural program in Canada. Calgary is now home to the world’s tallest mural (310 ft.) painted in 2022 by the well-known German graffiti artist DAIM, with the help of three local artists. It is a colourful geometric design with roots in graffiti art and op art. You can find it at 123, 10th Ave SW.  BUMP also organizes a summer festival in August (Aug. 3 to 18 this year), to celebrate the completion of the new murals. The festival includes music, food trucks and tours of old and new murals.

Calgary’s most site-specific mural is a huge portrait of Baron George Stephen and the Canadian Pacific Railway created by Van Charles Designs on the Hudson Block on Stephen Avenue at Centre Street. The mural celebrates the Canadian Pacific Railway and the important role it has played in history. Calgary’s signature main street, Stephen Avenue (a national historic site) is named after Sir George Stephen, the first Baron Mount Stephen and the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This well executed mural successfully connects its subject with its location.

Check out BUMP’s website for more information or to book a tour

Chemainus, B.C. oldest mural program

In the early ’80s, Chemanius invited artists to create murals as a tourist attraction to help save the struggling town, which has a population of around 4,000. Today, there are19 murals in the town’s “The History” series, five in “The Emily Carr” series and another five in the “Community Mural” series. The murals have indeed become a major tourist attraction enticing as many as 400,000 visitors a year to visit the town.

Check out Chemainus Murals website.

Montreal & Vancouver

Montreal’s Urban Art Festival began in 2012 and takes place in early June each year. Taking place along Saint-Laurent Boulevard, it includes musical shows and digital video installations, as well as murals.  Montreal is home to arguably Canada’s most famous mural — a portrait of Leonard Cohen by Gene Pedon at 1420 Crescent Street. The 21-storey mural pays homage to one of the world’s great artists, who was born and lived in Montreal.

Vancouver’s mural festival began in 2016 and now takes place in early August in the tony Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. However, there are murals in all the city’s trendy neighbourhoods, creating one of the world’s most walkable cities.

Mural Capital Of Alberta

One of the more unique mural programs is in Lacombe, Alberta, which claims to be the Mural Capital of Alberta. In 2004, local muralist Tim Giles painted 19 murals of buildings and scenes from the 1890s to 1910s in the alley between 51st Street and 50th Avenue. Today there are 32 murals throughout the downtown creating an engaging history walk.

Last Word

Today, cities, towns and even villages across Canada are gambling on the ability of murals to foster a more attractive sense of place for everyone.