Provincial and territorial museums of Canada facts for kids

Canada is a huge country, and each of its provinces and territories has its own special story! To keep these stories alive, many provinces and territories have their own museums. These are called provincial and territorial museums. They are like the big national museums, but they focus on the history and culture of their specific region. Sometimes, their collections even include amazing things from all over the world! In Quebec, which is mostly French-speaking, they call their provincial museums "national museums."

Many provinces have different buildings for different types of collections. For example, they might have one museum for human history, another for nature, and a separate art gallery. But in Newfoundland and Labrador, everything is together in one cool building called The Rooms in St. John's.

Discover Canada's History Museums

Almost every province and territory in Canada has a special museum. Most of these are either "encyclopedic museums" (meaning they cover many topics like science and nature) or "history museums" (which focus on human events). The only province that doesn't have its own provincial museum is Prince Edward Island. Below is a list of some of these amazing history museums across Canada.

Name	Photo	City	Province	Year established	Visitors annually	What you'll find there
Manitoba Museum	The Manitoba Museum and Planetarium	Winnipeg	Manitoba	1965	303,191 (2017)	This museum explores both human history and the natural world.
Musée de la civilisation	Musée de la civilisation	Quebec City	Quebec	1984	543,128 (2005)	A museum dedicated to human history and culture.
New Brunswick Museum	Entrance to the New Brunswick Museum	Saint John	New Brunswick	1842	32,584 (2017)	This museum covers human and natural history. It's the oldest museum in Canada that has been open continuously!
Nova Scotia Museum		Multiple sites	Nova Scotia	1868	549,500 (2015)	This is a system of 28 different museums spread across the province.
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre	Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre	Yellowknife	Northwest Territories	1979		This centre shows human and natural history. It also keeps important government records.
Royal Alberta Museum	The new Royal Alberta Museum	Edmonton	Alberta	1967		A museum that teaches about human and natural history.
Royal British Columbia Museum	Main entrance to the Royal British Columbia Museum	Victoria	British Columbia	1886	770,000 (2017)	This museum covers human and natural history. It also holds the province's historical records.
Royal Ontario Museum	Royal Ontario Museum	Toronto	Ontario	1912	1,440,000 (2017)	This is Canada's largest and most visited museum. It features art, human history, and natural history.
Royal Saskatchewan Museum	Royal Saskatchewan Museum	Regina	Saskatchewan	1906	139,122 (2017)	A museum focused on natural history.
The Rooms	The Rooms in St. John's	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	2005	87,083 (2017)	This building combines a museum of human and natural history, an art gallery, and the provincial archives.

Amazing Art Galleries in the Provinces

Many Canadian provinces and territories also have their own art galleries. These galleries display beautiful artworks from their region and sometimes from around the world.

The Art Gallery of Alberta is a great place to see art, but it's run by a non-profit group, not the provincial government. So, it's not on our list of provincially-run galleries.

Here are some of the provincial and territorial art galleries in Canada:

Name	Photo	City	Province	Year established	Visitors annually	What you'll find there
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia	Art Gallery of Nova Scotia	Halifax	Nova Scotia	1908	45,455 (2017)	This is the biggest art gallery in Atlantic Canada. It has classic paintings, folk art, and Inuit stone carvings.
Art Gallery of Ontario	Art Gallery of Ontario at dusk	Toronto	Ontario	1900	974,736 (2018)	This is the largest art gallery managed by a province in Canada. It has 98,000 artworks, including the biggest collection of Canadian art.
Beaverbrook Art Gallery	Beaverbrook Art Gallery	Fredericton	New Brunswick	1959	10,333 (2016)	This gallery was first funded by Baron Beaverbrook and is now recognized as a provincial art gallery.
McMichael Canadian Art Collection	Entrance to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection	Kleinburg	Ontario	1965		This collection started as a private one and was given to the province. It mainly features art by the famous Group of Seven and other Canadian and Indigenous artists.
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec	Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec	Quebec City	Quebec	1933	387,333 (2018)	This museum has about 40,000 artworks made in Quebec or by Quebec artists since the 1700s.
Remai Modern	Remai Modern Art Gallery	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	2009		This is a modern art museum, but it also has older art. It's officially called the Art Gallery of Saskatchewan.
The Rooms	The Rooms in St. John's	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	2005	87,083 (2017)	This building houses the provincial art gallery, archives, and museum all in one place.
Yukon Arts Centre		Whitehorse	Yukon	1992		This centre has a permanent collection of Indigenous and northern art. It also serves as a place for performances and other arts events.

Provincial Archives and Libraries

Most Canadian provinces also have special places called archives and libraries. These places keep important historical documents, photos, and records safe for everyone to learn from. For example, in British Columbia, the British Columbia Archives joined with the Royal British Columbia Museum in 2003. Now, the museum helps look after the province's historical records.

Here are some of the provincial archives and libraries in Canada:

Name	Photo	City	Province	Year established
Archives of Manitoba	Archives of Manitoba	Winnipeg	Manitoba	1971
Archives of Ontario	Research tower and archives	Toronto	Ontario	1903
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec	Grande Bibliothèque	Montreal	Quebec	1920
Nova Scotia Archives	Public Archives of Nova Scotia entrance	Halifax	Nova Scotia	1857
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre	Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre	Yellowknife	Northwest Territories	1979
Provincial Archives of Alberta		Edmonton	Alberta	1967
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick		Fredericton	New Brunswick	1967
Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan		Regina	Saskatchewan	1945
Public Archives and Records Office	Honourable George Coles Building	Charlottetown	Prince Edward Island
The Rooms	The Rooms in St. John's	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	2005

Other Cool Provincial Museums

Some provinces and territories have even more special museums that focus on unique topics!

Name	Photo	City	Province	Year established	Visitors annually	What you'll find there
Ontario Science Centre	Ontario Science Centre	Toronto	Ontario	1969	900,225 (2019)	This is an interactive science centre where you can explore science with hands-on exhibits.
Science North	Science North building	Sudbury	Ontario	1984		Another interactive science centre, this one is in Northern Ontario. It also runs Dynamic Earth, a cool museum about geology and mining, home to the famous Big Nickel.
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology	Royal Tyrrell Museum	Drumheller	Alberta	1985	470,000 (2016–17)	This museum is all about paleontology (the study of fossils, like dinosaurs!). It's also a research centre.

See also

• List of museums in Canada
• National museums of Canada