Canadian medical journals from the mid-19th century to the present day are used to illustrate the history and evolution of lazarettos in Canada. The living conditions in these ‘leper colonies’ and their psychological, social and physical impacts are depicted. The present article reviews the cause, signs and symptoms of leprosy, and highlights the frequent ocular complications, as well as the use of chaulmoogra oil in Tracadie, New Brunswick, around 1901. The history of the four lazarettos in Canada – Sheldrake Island (1844 to 1848) and Tracadie (1848 to 1965) in New Brunswick, and D’Arcy Island (1891 to 1924) and Bentinck Island (1924 to 1957) in British Columbia – is described.