Interesting Facts About Canadian Museums

How many museums are there in Canada?

Canada has more than 2,400 museums, which have more than 24,000 paid employees and 55,000 volunteers, and receive nearly 54 million visits annually.

Source: Official Directory of Canadian Museums and Related Institutions, Canadian Museums Association; Canadian Encyclopaedia; Statistics Canada.

Don't travel much?

You don't need to leave your home to visit Canadian museums. Hundreds of museums now have Web sites, some of which offer virtual tours, a look at their collections, and even interactive activities. In addition, the Virtual Museum of Canada brings hundreds of museums together on one site where you can explore virtual exhibitions. Start off at Virtual Museum of Canada and explore.

What is the most northerly museum in Canada?

Canada's most northerly museum is the Baker Lake Inuit Heritage Centre, in Nunavut, a centre created to honour the elders of Baker Lake and allow young Inuit people to gain a better understanding of their traditional culture.

Source Inuit Heritage Centre (Virtual Museum of Canada)

Can I discover Canadian heroes in museums?

Some museums are dedicated to the many people who've helped make Canada what it is today. These include the Prime Ministers John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and John Diefenbaker; inventors like Alexander Graham Bell and J. Armand Bombardier; entertainers like Hank Snow, and even lesser known explorers, pioneers and local heroes, including imaginary characters such as Anne of Green Gables, beloved heroine of the Lucy Maude Montgomery novels.

Sources: Official Directory of Canadian Museums and Related Instituations, Canadian Museums Association.

Is there really a potato museum?

The Prince Edward Island Potato Museum in O'Leary, PEI presents the story of the potato, from its "discovery" in South America to its cultivation on the Island. It's the only museum of its kind in Canada.

Source: Prince Edward Island Potato Museum (Virtual Museum of Canada)

It all started in Newfoundland

The Newfoundland Museum's exhibition Full Circle - First Contact: Vikings and Skraelings in Newfoundland and Labrador commemorates the meeting of Leif Ericson, and his crew from Greenland, with the aboriginal people they called Skraelings. One hundred thousand years after our ancestors left Africa and spread out around the world, the descendants of those who headed toward Asia met the descendants of those who headed toward Europe. It was the Vikings who closed the circle.

Source: Full Circle - First Contact: Vikings and Skraelings in Newfoundland and Labrador

Which museum has almost a million images of Montreal?

The Notman Photographic Archives at the McCord Museum in Montreal contains over 450,000 photographs (including 200,000 glass negatives) taken by the Notman studio and another 400,000 images by other photographers, providing an invaluable resource for the study of the history of Montreal from 1840-1935.

Source: McCord Museum

Where could you find French chestnut crushing boots, Chinese silk shoes for binding women's feet, pre-Columbian sacrificial boots, bear fur shoes for Japanese Samurai and human hair slippers for Australian Aboriginal executioners?

They're crazy about shoes at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto! This museum houses a fabulous collection under one shoe box-shaped roof. It's the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of shoes and shoe-related objects with almost 10,000 artifacts spanning 4,500 years of history, from virtually every culture in the world.

Source: Bata Shoe Museum

He shoots, he scores?

Ever wanted to test your skills against Mark Messier or Wayne Gretzky? At the Hockey Hall of Fame, in Toronto, you can do just that. Keep your eye on the puck and your hand on the stick as they shoot - and score?

Source: Hockey Hall of Fame

Which museum inherited the collection of Canada's oldest company?

In 1994, the Manitoba Museum received a remarkable gift from the Hudson's Bay Company - three centuries' of artifacts collected by fur traders, Aboriginal people and explorers. The artifacts tell fascinating stories, including the search for the legendary North West Passage and the building of a commercial empire stretching from Labrador to Vancouver Island.

Source: Manitoba Museum

Which museum is home to the largest meat-eating dinosaur?

One of the dinosaurs that lived in Alberta, Tyrannosaurus rex, is the largest known carnivore, at more than 12 metres long. Massive and powerful, it had up to 60 teeth, some of them longer than a human hand. Its eyes faced forward, providing depth perception, and its narrowed snout gave it a clear field of vision, making it a formidable predator. At the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, you can see one of only two Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found in the province.

Source: Royal Tyrrell Museum

Are there any museums that don't take themselves too seriously?

The Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alberta has 31 display cases featuring 54 Richardson Ground Squirrels dressed appropriately for different activities to show what Torrington would look like as a gopher village.

Source: Big Country Tourist Association.

Where could you find artifacts used in traditional First Nations' ceremonies?

A collection of artifacts depicting the potlatch ceremony of the Kwakwaka'wakw people can be found at the U'Mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC. The centre was established in 1980 when, after many years of negotiations, the Kwakwaka'wakw were successful in repatriating a collection of artifacts from an early 20th century potlatch.

Source: U'Mista Cultural Centre

A trip to the stars

The H. R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver offers a unique opportunity to travel to the stars with its virtual simulator, to touch a real moon rock or to morph into an alien in the hands-on interactive exhibit gallery. You can also enjoy multimedia shows in the H.R. MacMillan Planetarium and learn about the latest in space in GroundStation Canada's live demonstrations and multimedia shows.

Source: H. R. MacMillan Space Centre