11 Largest Bookstores in Canada
Canada has a thriving bookstore industry which attracts users from across the world. You can get your next favourite title in the numerous bookstores in Canada. What you need is a guide on the best bookstores that will always give you satisfaction any day as a booklover. Here’s a list of Canada’s most-beloved independent bookstores.
The Bookshelf, Guelph, Ontario
The Bookshelf was founded in 1973 by Barb and Doug Minett. They added a café in 1980 to make it Canada’s first bookstore/café, and then seven years later added a cinema and bar. Shortly thereafter they acquired and renovated the building next door to add a music venue and restaurant. The Bookshelf has held readings by John Irving, Michael Ondaatje, and Margaret Atwood, and musical performances by Serena Ryder, the Constantines, and Sarah Harmer. It currently holds 14 film screenings a week and offers dinner and a movie every Tuesday to Saturday. The exciting description of The Bookshelf is that this is a bookstore that delivers wine which has a cinema that serves dinner and a bar that launches books. What a place to visit.
The Odd Book, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
The Old Book was founded in 1977 in the university town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The store specializes in second-hand, rare, and out-of-print books. When purchasing used books for the store, owner Jim Gow pays particular attention to interesting characteristics, such as Victorian-era binding, marks of previous owners like interleaved mementoes, or outrageous cover art. Ths is one of the most popular destinations for book lovers in Canada and beyond.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly, Montreal, Quebec
Drawn & Quarterly was founded in 1989 by Chris Oliveros as a magazine but has since grown to become an internationally renowned publisher of comics and graphic novels. In 2007, Oliveros opened Librarie Drawn & Quarterly in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood, and it’s become a favourite spot among local authors and book-lovers. La Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly focuses exclusively on children’s literature, including graphic novels for kids. If you have kids that are bookstores then always visit this store.
Whodunit, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Whodunit was founded in 1994 and offers a full range of crime fiction plus so much more, with a collection spanning over 18,000 books. On the last Tuesday of every month, Whodunit hosts a Mystery Reading Club. In the summer of 2018, they moved to a new space that is twice the size of their previous shop – expanding their collection beyond mystery, as well. The store offers an extensive children’s section and more local authors, with lots of unexpected treasures from all genres. This is a store you should visit.
Mabel’s Fables, Toronto, Ontario
Mabel’s Fables was founded in 1988 and has since grown to become a sought-after destination for books for children and young adults. It is located in a two-story building in Toronto’s Midtown. Mabel’s Fables offers a book club and classes for adults on writing fiction for children (in association with George Brown College). The store also collects gently used books for Children’s Book Bank a charity that provides free books to low-income communities. It has visitors and users from across the world.
Munro’s Books, Victoria, British Columbia
Munro’s Books is located in the heart of Victoria’s Old Town. It has been a must-visit destination for book-lovers for more than 50 years. Original owners, Jim and Alice Munro, opened the store in 1963 in a spall space on Yates St. In 1979, it moved to a larger place on Fort Street, and then in 1984, to its current location, a beautiful neo-classical building with 24-foot coffered ceilings, originally built for the Royal Bank of Canada in 1909. Today, the store is one of the top bookstores in North America.
Café Books, Canmore, Alberta
Café Books is an independently owned bookstore selling new and used books. This store was voted in the top 11 magical bookstores to visit across Canada by Chatelaine. It is located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies and has an outlook of a tourist attraction. The majority of the furniture is reclaimed and salvaged. The main bookcase is made from an old butler pantry from a Pennsylvania Mansion; a Welsh chapel door from the 1800s was transformed into the washroom entrance; and an 18th-century French workbench with a draw and functioning vice is used as a table for the cashier tills. The store also has merchandise related to the books they sell such as Out of Print tees, sweatshirts and book quote necklaces and keyrings. Even the cupcakes they offer have tiny books on them. If you visit this store and sit on a couch, pick up your drink and open your book, the next thing is that you find yourself in a different land. There’s a reason this bookstore is voted as ‘One of the dreamiest bookstores’. You just have to visit to confirm this by yourself. The bookstore has great book selection, relaxing music, really good coffee, and knowledgeable staff t assist you anytime.
Bison Books, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Bison Books another major store in Canada. It is located in downtown Winnipeg and specializes in antiquarian, used, and out-of-print books, currently having over 20,000 titles. This includes many hard-to-find first editions, including recent fiction and graphic novels. Anyone who has a book worth showcasing can get that service too as owner Aimee Peake will happily appraise it in accordance with the code of conduct set out by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Bison Books has your back covered if you’re a book lover.
Ben McNally Books, Toronto, Ontario
Ben McNally Books was established in 2007 in the heart of Toronto’s Financial District. The bookstore specializes in first-run hardcovers and hard-to-find books from the U.S. and U.K. Though the store itself is relatively new, Ben McNally himself has been an integral part of the Toronto book scene, for many years, having worked as the manager of the now defunct high-end Nicholas Hoare Bookstore. The warm and inviting, wood-panelled 2,500-square-foot space also acts as an events venue after hours. Book lovers of across the world patronize this store.
Spartacus Books, Vancouver, British Columbia
Spartacus Books is one of the longest serving (40 years and counting) collectively run bookstores in North America. It is a non-profit, volunteer-run bookstore and resource centre in downtown Vancouver. It was started by students from Simon Fraser University, and its original name was Spartacus Socialist Education Society. The bookstore still sticks to its “radical bookstore” roots by offering sections such as anarchism, socialism, radical theory, and community organizing. Visitors to this bookstore get to enjoy free Internet and computer access, free coffee and tea, and cozy couches to curl up and read on. This is a wonderful place to be.
A Different Drummer, Burlington, Ontario
A Different Drummer in Burlington, Ontario, was founded by John Richardson and Al Cummings (Cummings was also Robert Bateman’s first publisher) in 1970. The bookstore occupies all three floors of an Edwardian red brick house that was built in 1905, and stocks books on a wide variety of subjects, with a special focus on local authors. This store hosts “The Book and Author Series” every spring and fall. At this event guests get to enjoy breakfast as well as a presentation and book signed by the author of the featured book. This is one book store that will give you satisfaction anytime you visit.
