8 giant roadside landmarks to spot across Canada

At more than 10 metres tall, Mac was the tallest moose statue in the world when he was born, er, built, in 1984. Until 2015, when Norway built a bigger moose. Rude. But then, in 2019, Moose Jaw replaced Mac’s antlers with a larger rack, in an attempt to reclaim the world title. Success! Nothing like a good ol’ fashion moose-off.

Canada’s most famous tribute to currency must be Sudbury’s Big Nickel (it’s 64 million times bigger than an actual nickel), built in 1964. But there’s also a massive penny in Salmo, B.C., the Big Loonie in Echo Bay, Ont., and the Giant $2 Coin in Campbellford, Ont. At some point, people apparently stopped building big monuments to Canadian coins. We blame debit.

Sydney, N.S.’s 18-metre high, eight-tonne, solid steel string instrument—a tribute to local folk music—cost $100,000 to build in 2005. Okay, but how much would it cost to build the World’s Largest Fiddler on the World’s Largest Roof 20 years later?

Komarno, Man., is known as the Mosquito Capital of the World, so it makes sense that between 1984 and 1986, folks built one of the world’s largest mossies (out of stone and metal). Komarno doesn’t advertise this, but we assume it’s also the Citronella Candle Capital of the World.

The 17-metre-long squid replica in Glover’s Harbour, Nfld., is giant, sure, but it’s actually a true-to-life replica of a massive squid (Architeuthis dux) discovered in the area in 1878. The real squid was butchered and fed to dogs. (“That’s a lot of dog food!”—Horrified Cottage Life staff member.)

The one-tonne duck isn’t as famous as this country’s other massive waterfowl monument (Ontario’s Wawa Goose), but it does have a larger wingspan: seven metres. It’s a drake—a male. Ooh, is the goose a female? Never mind. It’s not like they’d hook up.

The 15-metre-high tool replica sits in Nackawic, N.B. It was built to commemorate the Jack Nicholson axe-versus-door scene in The Shining. Fine, no it wasn’t. It was to recognize the area’s significance to the forestry industry.

The massive, 18.6-metre paddle, situated near Golden, B.C., took 200 hours, a 60-foot western red cedar log, and four gallons of Varathane to make. According to Tourism Golden, it would suit a 78-foot-tall paddler. At least, that’s what they’ll put in their Kijiji sales ad. NOTE: There is a 33.6-metre paddle located at the Killarney Lodge in Killarney, Ont. Both Parson, B.C., and Killarney, Ont., claim to have the World’s Largest Paddle, and both towns have been given the Guinness World Record for World’s Largest Paddle at different times. We suppose the Parson paddle is both the World’s Largest Paddle and not the World’s Largest Paddle. Classic Schrödinger’s paddle.