RegionDetailed guide

Labrador

Mainland portion of Newfoundland and Labrador

Photo: Paul Gierszewski, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

Labrador is the mostly remote and sparsely settled mainland portion of Newfoundland and Labrador. Named for 15th-century Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, it's “the big land”: vast wilderness areas with abundant wildlife, whales and icebergs, some of the highest peaks east of the Canadian Rockies, and — almost as an afterthought — some widely scattered pockets of human habitation.

Regions

Western Labrador
A resource-rich area; mining and iron ore exploration made Labrador City-Wabush the largest settlement, with more than a third of Labrador's population. To the southwest, the road (and the last remaining passenger rail service in the province) crosses into Québec. To the east, the Churchill River is fed from the headwaters of the enormous Smallwood Reservoir, with massive hydroelectric developments at Churchill Falls and Muskrat Falls.
Nunatsiavut/North Coast
A handful of tiny, remote coastal Innu communities on the northern Atlantic Labrador coast where no roads run. Whatever food and supplies cannot be hunted or gathered by traditional native means arrive by seasonal coastal ferry. In winter, the only access is by aircraft.
Central Labrador
Once a busy air force base, Happy Valley-Goose Bay remains a vital seaport for supplies headed to more remote points in Labrador; while the Churchill River is attracting new hydroelectric development, many smaller rivers are popular for fly-fishing; trout and Atlantic salmon are plentiful.
South Coast/Labrador Straits
The closest portion of Labrador to the island of Newfoundland. Lighthouses, shipwrecks, ghost towns, even a UNESCO-listed historic Basque whaling station.

Getting there and around

Getting there

By car
The only overland through road from Quebec to Labrador, Quebec Route 389, is a very long and difficult highway heading north from Baie-Comeau.
By ferry
From the south travel to Labrador is by ferry from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec. It is then approx 5 km east to the Labrador border.
By train
An old American folk song (first recorded 1929) tells of a fictional "Wabash Cannonball"; as countless musicians followed the same refrain, this train's tale got taller with every retelling.

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Getting around

Options are limited.

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Airports and nearby hotels

Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.

Goose Bay Airport

Goose Bay · Regional · YYR

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Cities

Torngat Mountains National Park

including Mount Caubvick, which stands 1,652 metres (just over a mile) high.

Battle Harbour

Port Hope Simpson, population 529, is a tiny, isolated hamlet in southeastern Labrador.

Red Bay

Forteau is a small village in southern Labrador, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mealy Mountains National Park

Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park reserve in central Labrador. This 10,700 km2 national park was established 2015 to protect boreal forest, caribou, Atlantic salmon and trout, wolves, black bear, marten and fox, mountains, tundra, fjords and expansive native landscapes.

Read before you go to Labrador

Articles and travel topics about Labrador and Canada.

Travel tips

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Itineraries

Trans-Labrador Highway

The Trans-Labrador Highway passes through a handful of otherwise-isolated towns and villages in central and southern Labrador, covering just over 1200 km (700 miles) of sub-Arctic wilderness.

Wikivoyage

Itineraries

Quebec Route 389

Quebec Route 389 is in eastern Quebec. It runs north from Baie-Comeau to Fermont in Caniapiscau, Quebec, continuing as the Trans-Labrador Highway through Labrador City.

Wikivoyage

Nature & adventure

Fjords

Fjords or fiords are long narrow inlets of the ocean often with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. The two countries that are most known for their fjords are Norway and Canada, with New Zealand, Chile,…

Wikivoyage

Full travel guide

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Towns and villagesWithin Labrador, there are hardly cities in the usual sense. Communities range from small towns to tiny outport fishing villages to remote Innu communities. Here's a list of the important ones:

UnderstandLabrador is part of the Canadian mainland while Newfoundland is an island in the Atlantic Ocean. The Trans-Canada Highway to St.

TalkWhile the languages of Native peoples are still widely spoken (as first languages) by much of the Native population, English is the main language of most people, and a majority can speak it to some degree.

Get inFlying to Labrador requires a good deal of change and an affinity for small aircraft. Outside Goose Bay and Labrador West, informal is the best way to describe Labrador airports.

Get aroundOptions are limited.

SeeLabrador City-Wabush is a mining community and tours may be reserved in advance; in Churchill Falls, visitors may see one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Canada.

DoSee the aurora borealis or "northern lights", fish for trout and Atlantic salmon on pristine and undisturbed rivers (fly fishing in summer, ice fishing in winter). See native crafts being made.

BuyMost mass-produced items are manufactured elsewhere and imported great distances, making them more expensive in Labrador than in destinations on the beaten path.

EatLabrador City, as the largest community in Labrador, has a mix of well-known regional and international chains, as well as a few independent or family-operated restaurants.

DrinkIn the few major towns, roadhouses with hard liquors, Molson or Labatt beer and plenty of country music are common.

SleepThere are hotels in Labrador City, Churchill Falls, Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson and Forteau; most of these are small, local independents with no substantial presence from the major international chains.

ConnectAs of January 2017, Labrador has Rogers coverage (and therefore GSM) only in Happy Valley Goose Bay and Labrador City. There is also a one remote Lynx Mobility site in Natuashish.

RespectLabrador is host to a diverse population of Euro-Canadians and native people (Inuit, Innu, Métis); in isolated or remote areas such as Nunatsiavut (under native self-government since 2005) the traditional native ways…

Stay safeBe sure to leave each village with a full tank of fuel (or even a spare can, as it is possible that distances may be too great for lower kmpl/mpg cars).

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Sources and licences

Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Labrador" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Summary from the Wikipedia article "Labrador", available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikipedia
Photo: Paul Gierszewski, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

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