Horse-drawn carriage rides remain a tradition in several Canadian cities

MONTREAL —

Horse-drawn carriage tours, or calèches as they are known in Quebec, still run in Victoria, Vancouver, Quebec City and Charlottetown. ¹

The tradition is back in the spotlight after New York City council passed a bill last week that would end carriage rides there by June 2028. ¹

Quebec City's calèches

Two horse-drawn carriage tour companies operate in Quebec City, where the 400-year-old buildings in the old quarters draw tourists from around the world. ¹

One of them, Calèches Québec, says in a message on its phone line that since 2025 it no longer offers last-minute or same-day tours, in the best interest of its horses. ¹

Horse-drawn rides have also been part of the city's winter carnival on the Plains of Abraham. ¹

Victoria and Stanley Park

In Victoria, carriages have continued to operate since council voted 6-2 in March 2020 against a motion to end the industry. ¹

Donna Friedlander, owner and operator of Tally-Ho Carriage Tours, has described her staff in the Times Colonist newspaper as “horse professionals, working tirelessly out of love to ensure the safety, health and happiness of the carriage horses.” ¹

Care for the animals has been a concern there before. In 2018, after a video showed two Victoria Carriage Tours horses slipping and collapsing near the Ogden Point cruise terminal following a minor bump with a bus, the B.C. SPCA asked the city to keep carriages off busy downtown streets or restrict them to park settings. ¹

In Vancouver, horse-drawn tours are permitted in Stanley Park. The park board told CBC that a review of its recent records found no motions in recent years seeking to end them. ¹

Retirement for Montreal's horses

Toronto banned carriages from its downtown core in 1998. Montreal ended its calèche tours in 2020. ¹

Montreal worked with the provincial labour department to help drivers find other work and offered owners help to retire their animals. ¹

Carriage owner Denis Murray said at the time that he and his horse Sissi shared a close bond and that she enjoyed the work. Sissi was later adopted by a veterinarian couple in Quebec's Eastern Townships, and Murray said he was happy to see she appeared to be doing well. ¹

Animal welfare groups, including the Animal Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, welcomed the New York bill and the measures in it to help carriage drivers find other jobs. ¹

Sources

1. CBC News: Horse-drawn carriages are still a tradition in some Canadian cities

This article was reported and written by Jenna Ross and edited by Daniel Okafor. It draws on the sources above, which are credited in the text. Our standards · Report an error