The Canadian Canoe Museum (CCM) is excited to announce the official grand opening date of its highly anticipated new museum. The new museum will open in winter 2024, followed by a grand opening celebration in May, marking the culmination of years of planning and ushering in a new era for the CCM and the paddling community.
The new museum’s unveiling, which was to take place this fall, has been delayed due to nationwide construction industry issues. Material and labour availability, supply chain disruptions, and scheduling and sequencing complexities have caused unavoidable delays in completing the impressive two-story, 65,000-square-foot museum and its five-acre lakefront campus.
The CCM and its project team remain committed to ensuring the new museum meets the highest quality standards, including a Class “A” controlled museum environment, and delivers an exceptional visitor experience. The new world-class facility will open in winter 2024 once it is complete and will officially celebrate after the ice melts by launching canoes into the water.
Executive Director Carolyn Hyslop looks forward to celebrating this momentous occasion with the CCM’s community of supporters from coast to coast to coast. “I am thrilled to announce that we will welcome our supporters to the new museum and campus the weekend of May 11th for our grand opening celebrations! While the pandemic and its impacts on the construction industry have affected our timeline, it has not affected the spirit and enthusiasm for this project. It will be worth the wait when visitors can explore this beautiful facility and our many new offerings and then continue to the lakefront for a memorable paddling experience!”
The weekend of May 11th will see donors, partners, members, volunteers, and esteemed dignitaries gather to celebrate the grand opening of the new museum and Lang Lakefront Campus, which coincides with the start of the paddling season. It will also mark the launch of the CCM’s full visitor experience with on-water activities to honour Canada’s enduring paddling legacy. A schedule of events will be released closer to the date.
When the new museum opens, it will feature exciting opportunities for new and returning visitors to immerse themselves in the rich histories and diverse cultures of the canoe and kayak. All programming will offer hands-on indoor and outdoor experiences connecting visitors and locals to the land, water, and canoe.
Visitors can explore 20,000 square feet of new exhibits featuring stories from around the world at their own pace or on a guided tour, peek into the integrated Collection Hall to witness the incredible depth and diversity of the collection, learn new skills in an artisan workshop, and enjoy food and drinks from the Silver Bean Café.
The new facility and its multipurpose room with stunning lake views will be available to rent for community and corporate meetings, conferences, events and weddings.
The CCM is also excited to welcome back teachers, students, and community members with a host of customizable and curriculum-linked programs that build on inspiration found in the exhibits and utilize the outdoor campus year-round. Participants will learn fire building, outdoor cooking, camping, plein air painting, and paddling skills.
In the spring, the Lang Lakefront Campus will blossom into a vibrant space with the inclusion of on-water programming. Daily 90-minute Voyageur canoe tours will offer a group paddling experience, while canoe and kayak rentals will be available for self-guided adventures. Children’s day camps, adult paddling courses, and backcountry canoe trips will also run throughout the summer months.
Despite the construction delays, the CCM recently reached a significant project milestone, moving over 100 canoes and kayaks into the new Exhibition Hall.
Curator Jeremy Ward reflects on this milestone: “Moving this first portion of the collection into its new home was an incredible moment in this organization’s history. This collection is unlike any other worldwide and has been recognized for its national significance to this country. Now, it finally has a home befitting it. It was certainly an emotional moment for myself and our team.”
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, granted patronage to the CCM last year. In 2013, the Senate declared the CCM and its collection a cultural asset of national significance.
The CCM and its partners will relocate the remaining 500 watercraft to the new museum over the next two to three months. Peterborough-based McWilliams Moving & Storage is the Lead Sponsor of the Move the Collection: Final Portage campaign and is the Official Mover of the CCM.
Meanwhile, momentum continues on the Museum’s Inspiring Canada – by Canoe fundraising campaign, which has raised 97 per cent of its $40-million goal. This summer, fundraising events were held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and Peterborough, Ontario, reflecting the nationwide support and excitement for the new museum.
The new museum is also made possible, in part, by the CCM’s lead donor and government partners, including the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Weston Family Foundation, the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and the Province of Ontario.
For more information on the new museum, to sign up for updates on its opening, or to donate to the fundraising campaign, visit canoemuseum.ca/new-museum.
Quotes
“We must learn from our past and shape our future. To do that, we must, among other things, support cultural spaces and infrastructure that help ensure Canadians have access to arts and heritage experiences. Our government investing in this new home for the Canadian Canoe Museum will encourage visitors to discover and appreciate the unique role that canoe, and watercraft have in our culture and history.”
—The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage
« Nous nous devons de tirer des leçons de notre passé et de façonner notre avenir. Pour y parvenir, nous devons entre autres soutenir les infrastructures et espaces culturels qui permettent aux Canadiens et Canadiennes de vivre des expériences artistiques et patrimoniales. Notre gouvernement investit dans le nouveau foyer du Musée canadien du canot, invitant le public à découvrir et à apprécier la place unique qu’occupent le canot et d’autres embarcations dans notre histoire et notre culture. »
—L’honorable Pascale St-Onge, ministre du Patrimoine canadien
“The grand opening of the Canadian Canoe Museum’s new Exhibition Hall will be an exciting day for the Peterborough community. Our government invested in this significant historical, cultural, and educational landmark to help preserve the richness of Canada’s past and ensure a deeper understanding of our collective stories for generations to come.”
—The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
“We are immensely proud to be a lead donor for the new and improved Canadian Canoe Museum. The Canadian Canoe Museum will give visitors a one-of-a-kind experience and access to the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft. This uniquely Canadian museum and its collection is a cultural asset of national significance and will educate and provide continued learning about our country’s heritage for generations to come.”
—Garfield Mitchell, Chair of the Weston Family Foundation
“It’s great to see the progress that has been made on the Canadian Canoe Museum to date. This museum of national significance situated on the shores of Little Lake will be an exceptional addition to our community. We look forward to the grand opening of this beautiful building.”
—Jeff Leal, Mayor, City of Peterborough
“All of Peterborough County has been awaiting this moment. The beautiful, state-of-the-art, new Canadian Canoe Museum building is just months away from opening to the public. We are very fortunate to have this important cultural site representative of our local and national heritage right in our backyard. I am excited to attend the Grand Opening in May 2024 and I am looking forward to inviting all residents and visitors of Peterborough County to stop by the new Museum.”
—Bonnie Clark, Warden, Peterborough County
“It is very exciting to have an official date for the grand opening of the Canadian Canoe Museum. I am able to recognize the fantastic impact the newly improved museum will have in both my role as the local Member of Provincial Parliament, and Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The new facility will continue to expand connections, communities, knowledge, culture, arts, and so much more for all that have the pleasure of attending.”
—Dave Smith, MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha
About The Canadian Canoe Museum
Located on the Traditional Territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations in Peterborough, Ontario, The Canadian Canoe Museum stewards the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft. More than 600 in number, the watercraft and their stories have a pivotal role to play in understanding our past – and our collective future.
As part of the Museum’s responsibility for this cultural asset of national significance (Senate of Canada, 2013), it is building a new 65,000-square-foot home that aspires to be as innovative as the canoe itself. A purpose-built facility on the water, with an array of indoor and outdoor spaces, will allow the Museum to deliver on its mission in ways that, right now, it can only imagine. It will inspire visitors to learn about Canada’s collective history and reinforce our connections to land, water and one another – all through the unique lens of the iconic canoe. Learn more at www.canoemuseum.ca/new-museum.
