The Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat is the town's headline sight: a non-profit care facility for polar bears that cannot be released into the wild. The enclosures cover more than 24 acres, with boreal forest, a spring-fed lake, and viewing areas that let visitors watch the bears without turning the place into a circus.
It is still a captive-bear facility, so go with clear eyes. The reason it works as a travel stop is that the focus is on care, education, and northern ecology rather than spectacle. Staff talks and viewing sessions are the best way to understand what the habitat is doing.