5 Best Sights in Canada

Aluminum is big business in Canada, where the metal has been processed for a century. With 1,000 workers, Aluminerie Alouette is Sept-Îles’ largest employer and North America’s major aluminum smelter. See the smelting process from start to finish in a two-hour tour that begins with a video presentation. This is an active work zone, and safety restrictions apply—long sleeves, long pants, and closed-toe shoes must be worn. Kids younger than age 12, pregnant women, and people with pacemakers are not allowed.

Back when Trois-Rivières was a lumber, paper, and pulp industry leader, this plant’s machinery whizzed and whirled. Built in the early 1920s, it pumped, filtered, and stored water for the paper mill. By the mid-1950s, the plant filtered more than 20 million gallons of water a day that was used to produce 1,000 tons of newsprint. Today, it is eerily quiet, especially the long-abandoned underground vaults, which are part of the original architecture and machinery that's on display.

Just outside Charlottetown, the Cows Creamery Factory offers self-guided tours that teach you everything you need to know about ice cream production. Following a film (shown in the "Milky Whey Theater"), you can watch staff make waffle cones, whimsical T-shirts, cheddar cheese, and, of course, that award-winning ice cream. Plus, you can grab a cone afterwards, or some fun souvenirs that riff on pop culture with a bovine twist from their store.

A working artisan soapery, Olivier includes a museum with a fascinating array of bathtime memorabilia, from old bars of soap and soap-making equipment to tubs and basins. There's a skin-care art gallery, featuring paintings commissioned for soap labels throughout the years, and, naturally, plenty of soap and other skin-care products are for sale. You can book a tour to learn how the soap is made.