Top 10 Biggest (and Most Magnificent!) Landmarks in Canada (4 of 6)

6. Totem Pole, Alert Bay, BC

The world’s tallest totem pole is located in Alert Bay, BC…or is it? At 52.7 metres (173 feet) tall, it objectively meets the criteria for being “not short.” But after that, things get a bit dicey. This pole, whose figures depict the indigenous Pacific Northwest Kwakwaka’wakw people, has been recognized by Guiness World Records as the tallest totem pole. However, since it is made of two separate logs rather than one continuous piece of wood, the folks in Victoria, home to the shorter 38.8 metre (127 feet) totem pole, is the legit king since it is one piece. A totem pole in Kalama, Washington is also a single piece of wood and is a couple of metres taller than the one in Victoria, but since it technically wasn’t made by any indigenous people from a traditional totem-carving culture, everybody outside of Kalama agrees that it’s nothing more than a pole.

7. Mac The Moose, Moose Jaw, SK

The largest moose in the world (aka Big Mac) appropriately lives in Moose Jaw. But for a brief moment in time, he lost the title to Storelgen, a stainless steel moose who, in 2015, was built by the fine folks inhabiting Stor-Elvdal, Norway, for the sole purpose of dethroning Big Mac. Once the citizens of Moose Jaw discovered this, it sparked the so-called “Moose War.” In 2019, Big Mac was given a makeover in the form of larger antlers, and just like that, he became the world’s largest moose again, and there was much rejoicing!