Canadian Museum of History

Founded in 1856, the Canadian Museum of History ranks among the oldest museum institutions in North America, having evolved over nearly two centuries to become Canada's national social history museum today. Located on the banks of the Outaouais River, directly across from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the museum occupies an iconic building designed by Indigenous architect Douglas Cardinal, whose organic curves and fluid forms are explicitly inspired by Canadian natural landscapes and create a distinctive architectural dialogue with the riverside setting. The museum's collection comprises more than four million objects—archaeological materials, cultural artifacts, works of art, archival documents, and audiovisual materials—spanning twenty thousand years of human history across Canadian territory. One of the museum's most spectacular installations remains its Grand Hall, which presents the world's largest indoor exhibition of monumental totem poles, accompanied by six traditional house facades arranged according to the layout of a typical 19th-century village from Canada's northwest coast. In close collaboration with Indigenous nations, the museum is dedicated to sharing stories of resilience and cultural diversity of First Peoples throughout the country, making this institution a place of memory that is both scientifically rigorous and accessible to the general public, notably through free general admission offered every Thursday evening.