Here’s what the empty streets of Canada look like amid COVID-19 pandemic

Have you every experienced that eerie feeling of being in a mall when it’s closed? Or when you were a kid, being at school after hours? It’s almost like time isn’t real. Well, that feeling has pretty much swept the entire nation. With more and more people practicing safe social-distancing (thank you, by the way), the streets of these once-busy Canadian cities are super deserted. And honestly, it’s kinda giving us the creeps.

Here’s what the empty streets of 7 Canadian cities look like right now.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

The country’s capital has become a ghost-town. With the city under a state of emergency, the regular hustle and bustle of the Byward Market, as you can see, is nowhere to be found.

VANCOUVER, B.C.

This normally busy area of downtown Vancouver is all but empty.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

Usually packed with travellers coming to and from the city, Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport is now deserted. The photo speaks to the impact that COVID-19 is having on the travel and tourism industry as a whole.

TORONTO, ONTARIO

One of the busiest malls in the city, the Toronto Eaton Centre, is pictured here without a person in sight. The image is especially eerie when you compare it too a few short months ago, when the corridors were packed with Boxing Day shoppers almost elbow to elbow.

CALGARY, ALBERTA

This spooky shot shows us the now empty streets of downtown Calgary’s typically bustling Stephen Avenue.

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN

This photo of the capital of Saskatchewan sends chills down our spine, with almost no souls in sight.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

French-Canadian photographer Theo Cohen recently took to the streets of Montreal to capture a series of haunting images. You can check out the full collection at his website.

Oof. Pretty spooky, right? The one comfort we can take from these images is it means that people are taking social distancing seriously. And with that being the number one thing Canadians can do to slow the spread of the virus, empty streets can be seen as a sign of progress. So stay at home, people! And stay healthy.