5 Canadian towns where hippy culture is still thriving

Founded by Pacifists in the early 1900s, Nelson gained notoriety as a hippie haven during the Vietnam War when Quakers aided American draft dodgers across the border. Add in a healthy dose of marijuana and free love thrived in this Kootenay town. Now, according the New York Times, Nelson is experiencing an influx of “urban refugees,” who are attracted to its laid-back lifestyle, Victorian heritage buildings and arts culture.

With a slower pace of life, breathtaking views and a mild climate, communities across Vancouver Island have attracted their fair share of free-minded folk. Tofino, on the West Coast of the island, embodies this best. Originally a hunting and fishing village, Tofino’s population soared in the ‘70s when draft dodgers and surfers flocked to the area, long before a road even ran there. Today, owing to its Pacific Coast rainforest, good surf and long stretches of beach, Tofino is a popular tourist destination. However, it still attracts its fair share of New Agers, with nearby communes in operation.

A list of Canadian hippie communities wouldn’t be complete without mention of BC’s Gulf Islands: Gabriola, Hornby, Salt Spring and Cortes. Of the bunch, Salt Spring Island has the largest population, thanks to its arts community and burgeoning culinary scene. Proof of its roots can be found at the Saturday Farmers’ Market where sellers must make, bake or grow their goods themselves. Want to glamp in a tree house? The Gulf Islands is the place to go.

It will probably come as little surprise that the epicentre of Guelph’s hippie culture can be found on the University of Guelph campus. Known for its programs focused on agriculture and the environment, the university tends to attract students who are interested in sustainability. More “neo-hippy” than “hipster,” Guelph’s 129,000 residents are passionate about arts and culture, as evidenced by the popular Hillside summer music festival.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, the inexpensive land prices of Annapolis Valley attracted draft dodgers. It was the perfect place to build off-grid homes, live off the land, and start communes with names like Moonrise and The Farm. Some of the abandoned communes from the last century still stand, but for living examples, head to Wolfville. Home to just over 4,000 people, it became Canada’s first “Fair Trade Town” in 2007. Cruise the main street for fair-trade coffee, art co-ops and boutiques. “I’ve travelled high and low across Canada to find ‘paradise’ and the Annapolis Valley has loads of organic farms and many back-to-land hippies,” one contributor wrote on Hippy.com.