List of museums in Toronto

There are a variety of different museums in Toronto. Types of museums located in Toronto include agricultural museums, art museums, fashion museums, food museums, history museums (including historic houses and living museums), military museums (including local regimental museums), railway museums, science museums, and textile museums.

Current museums

The following is a list of museums current located in Toronto. The following list does not include virtual museums that do not have physical galleries, regardless if they're based in Toronto.

Name	Image	Neighborhood	Area[note 1]	Attendance	Type	Summary	Ref.
48th Highlanders Museum		Entertainment District	Old Toronto		Military (regimental)	Regimental museum for the 48th Highlanders of Canada. The museum has been situated in St. Andrew's Church since 1997	[1]
A Space Gallery		Fashion District	Old Toronto		Art	Artist-run contemporary art gallery	[2]
Aga Khan Museum		Don Mills	North York		Art	Muslim arts and culture
Applewood Shaver Homestead		Eatonville	Etobicoke		Historic house	Historic house museum situated in a homestead dating back to c. 1850s	[3]
Art Gallery of Ontario		Grange Park	Old Toronto	974,736 (2018)	Art	Gallery of Canadian and European art, with a collection that includes decorative arts, contemporary art, and sculptures. The museum also includes The Grange, a historic home used as an art space and lounge by the museum.	[4]
Art Gallery of York University		York University Heights	North York		Art	Gallery of contemporary art. A university museum of York University, it is housed in the university's Accolade East Building.
Art Museum at the University of Toronto		Discovery District	Old Toronto	63,393 (2018)	Art	A university museum for contemporary art, comprising the adjacent Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at Hart House, and the University of Toronto Art Centre at University College. The two galleries were formerly separate entities before they were amalgamated into the Art Museum at the University of Toronto in 2014.	[5]
Bata Shoe Museum		Discovery District	Old Toronto	110,334 (2018)	Fashion	History of footwear from around the world	[6]
Black Creek Pioneer Village		York University Heights	North York	141,000 (2017)	Living	A living history museum situated in North York. The property contains a number of early-to-mid 19th century buildings.	[7]
Campbell House Museum		Grange Park	Old Toronto		Historic house	Historic house museum that is situated in a house dating back to 1822. The building was converted into a historical house in 1974. The building also includes an art gallery	[8]
Canadian Language Museum		Lawrence Park	Old Toronto		Linguistics	Promotes the languages of Canada and the scientific study of languages. Situated within Glendon Gallery building of Glendon College, an English/French bilingual college of York University
Canadian Sculpture Centre		Distillery District	Old Toronto		Art	Contemporary Canadian sculpture gallery, operated by the Sculptors Society of Canada
Casa Loma		Casa Loma	Old Toronto	350,000	Historic house	A historic house museum situated in an estate completed in 1914. The estate was converted into a historical house in 1937.	[9]
Cedar Ridge Creative Centre		Woburn	Scarborough		Art	Art centre with exhibit gallery situated in a house dating back to the mid-19th century. The house was conveted to an art centre in 1978.	[10]
Colborne Lodge		Swansea	Old Toronto		Historic house	Historic house museum situated in a building dating back to 1836, and reopened as a historic house in 1890. The museum is operated by the City of Toronto government
Doris McCarthy Gallery		Highland Creek	Scarborough		Art	A contemporary art gallery of the University of Toronto Scarborough	[11]
Enoch Turner School		Corktown	Old Toronto		Living	A living history museum of a Victorian-era period schoolhouse. The museum is housed in a schoolhouse dating back to 1848. The building was converted into a living history museum in 1970.
Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery		Eatonville	Etobicoke		Art	The gallery is housed in the centre block of the Etobicoke Civic Centre	[12]
First Floor Gallery & Architecture and Design Gallery		Discovery District	Old Toronto		Art	The First Floor Gallery and the Architecture and Design Gallery are two university art galleries managed by the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, and located at 1 Spadina Crescent. It features exhibitions of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and allied design fields
Fort York		Fort York	Old Toronto		Military	Fort York was a defensive fortification, featuring buildings from the late-18th to early 19th century. Operated by City of Toronto government, it is presently used as a War of 1812 museum, featuring exhibits and historical re-enactments. The fort was reopened for public use by the city in 1934.
Gallery Arcturus		Garden District	Old Toronto		Art	Free, public contemporary art museum with rotating exhibits as well as workshops	[13]
Gardiner Museum		Discovery District	Old Toronto		Art	Ceramic art
Gibson House		Willowdale	North York		Historic house	The historic house museum is situated in a house dating back to 1851. The building was converted into a heritage house in 1971. The museum is operated by City of Toronto government
Hockey Hall of Fame		Financial District	Old Toronto	256,754 (2017)	Sports	Ice hockey hall of fame	[14]
InterAccess		Dovercourt Park	Old Toronto		Art	Media arts	[15]
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Gallery		Don Mills	North York		Art	The gallery at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre houses contemporary art with an East Asian perspective	[16]
Koffler Centre of the Arts		Trinity-Bellwoods	Old Toronto		Art	Contemporary arts centre housed in the Artscape Youngplace building
Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre		New Toronto	Etobicoke		Arts	Free exhibit and gallery spaces, workshops, & interpretive tours	[17]
Mackenzie House		Garden District	Old Toronto		Historic house	Historic house museum built in 1830. The building was re-purposed into a heritage museum in 1936, and is operated by the City of Toronto government
Market Gallery		St. Lawrence	Old Toronto		Multiple	Changing exhibits of Toronto's history, art and culture, located inside St. Lawrence Market
Mercer Union		Wallace Emerson	Old Toronto		Art	Artist-run contemporary art centre
Montgomery's Inn		The Kingsway	Etobicoke		Historic house	Period historic inn situated in an inn completed in 1832. The museum is operated by the City of Toronto
Morris and Sally Justein Heritage Museum		Lawrence Manor	North York		Cultural/ethnic	Located in the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, exhibits of Judaic heritage and culture	[18]
Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada		Junction Triangle	Old Toronto	30,000 (2018)	Art	Also known as MOCA. Formerly known as the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art	[19]
MZTV Museum of Television		Liberty Village	Old Toronto		Media	Historic television sets and memorabilia	[20]
Neilson Park Creative Centre		Markland Wood	Etobicoke		Art	Includes two galleries for exhibits of contemporary fine arts and crafts	[21]
OCAD University Galleries		Grange Park	Old Toronto		Art	Art galleries managed by the OCAD University art school, includes its Graduate Student Gallery
Ontario Science Centre		Flemingdon Park	North York	900,225 (2018)	Science	Themes include geology, nature, astronomy, music, technology, anatomy, communications	[22]
Open Studio Gallery		Fashion District	Old Toronto		Art	Artist-run printmaking centre	[23]
Oral History Museum		Glen Park	North York		History (oral)	Oral histories of different ethnic peoples of Canada, combining the spoken word with photographs, multi-media and computer simulation	[24]
Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books		Grange Park	Old Toronto		Literature	Located in the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library, changing exhibits of books, art, documents and more from the collection	[25]
Power Plant		Harbourfront	Old Toronto	77,243 (2018)	Art	Contemporary art gallery	[26]
Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum		Casa Loma	Old Toronto		Military (regimental)	Regimental museum of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, located on the third floor of Casa Loma
Redpath Sugar Museum		Harbourfront	Old Toronto		Food	Sugar manufacture and industry in Canada, located at the Redpath Sugar Refinery
Reuben & Helene Dennis Museum		Humewood–Cedarvale	York		Cultural/ethnic	Located in Beth Tzedec Synagogue, it contains Jewish art, ceremonial objects and history	[27]
Riverdale Farm		Cabbagetown	Old Toronto		Agricultural/historic farm	Working heritage farm with an 1860s to 1920s Ontario focus
Royal Canadian Military Institute Museum		Grange Park	Old Toronto		Military	Features guns, swords, spears, other weapons from around the world, badges, uniforms, medals, art, miniatures, photographs and other military memorabilia. Located at the Royal Canadian Military Institute.
Royal Ontario Museum		Discovery District	Old Toronto	1,440,000 (2018)	Multiple	Includes dinosaurs, Near Eastern and African art, East Asian art, European history, and Canadian history	[28]
Royal Regiment of Canada Museum		Fort York	Old Toronto		Military (regimental)	Regimental museum covering the history of The Royal Regiment of Canada, located in the Fort York Armoury.
Ryerson Image Centre		Garden District	Old Toronto		Art	Operated by Ryerson University, includes gallery spaces for photography, new media, installation art and film
Saint Mark's Coptic Museum		Steeles	Scarborough		Art	Coptic and Christian art, icons, coins, crosses, manuscripts, pottery, woodwork	[29]
Scarborough Museum		Bendale	Scarborough		Historic houses	Local history, 1910s period house, mid-19th century log house, carriage works, operated by the City of Toronto government	[30]
Spadina House		Casa Loma	Old Toronto		Historic house	Historic mansion reflecting four generations and periods, operated by the City of Toronto government
Taras Shevchenko Museum		High Park North	Old Toronto		Biographical	Life and works of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko	[31]
Textile Museum of Canada		Discovery District	Old Toronto	29,190 (2018)	Textile	Includes fabrics, ceremonial cloths, garments, carpets, quilts and related artifacts	[32]
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library		Discovery District	Old Toronto		Literature	Changing exhibits of books, art, documents and other literary works from its collections
Tollkeeper's Cottage Museum		Wychwood Park	Old Toronto		Historic house	1800s heritage museum, an example of tollkeeper's cottages in Ontario during the 19th century
Todmorden Mills		Old East York	East York		Multiple	Includes local history and industry museum, art gallery, theatre, operated by the City of Toronto government
Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art		Financial District	Old Toronto		Art	Located in the Toronto-Dominion Centre, collection of Inuit art, a cooperative project of Cadillac Fairview and the Toronto-Dominion Bank	[33]
Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre		Discovery District	Old Toronto		History (law enforcement)	Museum on the history of the Toronto Police Service. The museum is located at the Toronto Police Headquarters	[34]
Toronto Railway Museum		CityPlace	Old Toronto		Railway	Located at Roundhouse Park
TD Gallery at the Toronto Reference Library		Yorkville	Old Toronto		Literature	Changing exhibits from its collections in the TD Gallery. Located in the Toronto Reference Library	[35]
Toronto Scottish Regiment Museum		New Toronto	Etobicoke		Military (regimental)	Regimental museum covering the history of The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own)
Toronto Sculpture Garden		St. Lawrence	Old Toronto		Art	Small park with changing sculpture exhibits	[36]
Fourth York Post Office		Old Town	Old Toronto		History (postal)	Historic working post office and museum	[37]
Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch		Harbord Village	Old Toronto		Cultural/ethnic	Located in the St. Vladimir Institute, Ukrainian art, folk art, clothing, jewelry, religious objects, heritage and culture	[38]
Zion Schoolhouse		Don Valley Village	North York		Living	A living history museum for education, situated in a one-room schoolhouse built in 1869 (period restorations c. 1910). Operated by the City of Toronto Cultural Services.	[39]

Non-permanent museums

Myseum of Toronto is a "pop-up" museum that provides exhibitions throughout the Greater Toronto Area, and does not have a physical location. It attempts to celebration the evolution of local communities, cultures, and urban and natural spaces of Toronto.[40]

Theatre Museum Canada presently hosts travelling exhibits in various venues in Toronto. The museum's administrative offices are located in Toronto. In 2011, the museum announced it would move into a permanent facility at 355 King Street West. The museum would be situated inside the King Blue condominium development in the Entertainment District.[41]

Former museums

Relocated

The following table includes museums whose facilities were formerly located in Toronto, although have since moved beyond the city limits.

Name	Image	Type	Year opened	Year closed in Toronto	New location	Summary
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame		Sports	1955	2006	Calgary, Alberta	The Canadian hall of fame and museum was located at Exhibition Place from 1955 to 2006. It was situated in the former officers' quarters of New Fort York (pictured) from 1955 to 1957, the Press Building from 1957 to 1961, and the Hall of Fame building from 1961 to 2006. The hall of fame museum was closed in 2006 to make way for BMO Field. The organization reopened its hall of fame museum in Calgary in 2011.
Canadian Air and Space Museum		Aviation	1997	2011	Springwater, Ontario	The museum's collection put in storage in 2011, after the closure of its facility in Downsview Park. The museum's office is presently based in Mississauga-based offices of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. In 2019, a permanent home for the museum was found at Edenvale Airport in Springwater, Ontario. The museum will be renamed the Canadian Air and Space Conservancy upon its reopening.

Defunct

The following list includes former museums in Toronto that were closed.

Name	Image	Type	Opened	Closed	Summary
Canada's Design Museum		Design	2012	2019	Housed within the original Toronto Stock Exchange building, the museum was operated by Design Exchange
Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Museum		Sports			Temporary home for the museum for the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame was situated at Downsview Park.
CBC Museum		Media	1994[note 2]	2017	Located in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre
Children's Own Museum		Children's	1997	2002[note 3][42]	Originally opened as a temporary exhibit at the Harbourfront Centre, it was later relocated to the McLaughlin Planetarium in 1998.
McLaughlin Planetarium		Planetarium	1968	1995	The building was closed in 1995, and was later sold to the University of Toronto in 2009. The university has announced plans to demolish the structure to make way for additional facilities.
Museum of Inuit Art		Art	2007	2016[43][44]	Located within Queen's Quay Terminal. Not to be confused with the Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art (see table on current museums).
Parliament Interpretive Centre		Military	2012	2015	Built atop the First Parliament Building of Upper Canada. The museum was opened from 2012 to 2015 as a part of War of 1812 bicentennial celebrations, and focused on the settlement of York during the war.
Olympic Spirit Toronto		Sports	2004	2006	An Olympics-themed sports museum. It was located in 35 Dundas Street East. Its building is presently used as the television studios for Rogers Communications' Citytv and Omni Television.
Toronto Free Gallery		Art	2004		Non-profit activist gallery. Opened in 2004, and relocated buildings in 2008.
Toronto Maritime Museum		Maritime	1958	2008	Established as the Marine Museum of Upper Canada, it was located at Stanley Barracks, it moved to a building at Queens Quay in 1999, before closing in 2008.

See also

• List of museums in Canada
• List of museums in Ontario

Notes

1. Area refer to former lower-tier municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto. The lower-tier municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated to form the new City of Toronto in 1998, after the upper-tier government of Metropoltan Toronto was dissolved. The use of the term Old Toronto is a retronym used to refer to the pre-1998 lower-tier City of Toronto.
2. The collection was started in 1960
3. Physical museum closed in 2002. Its collection remains in storage.

References

1. "48th Highlanders Museum". 48highlanders.com. Canadian Armed Forces. 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
2. "Contact Us". aspacegallery.org. A Space Gallery. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
3. "The Applewood Shaver Homestead". applewoodshaverhouse.ca. Applewood Shaver House. 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
4. "Exhibition and museum visitor figures 2018". The Art Newspaper. 311: xv. April 2019.
5. "By the numbers" (PDF). Art Museum at the University of Toronto 2017–2018 Annual Report. University of Toronto. 2018. p. 12. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
6. "BSM 2018 Annual Review". Bata Shoe Museum. 2019. p. 16. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
7. "Toronto and Region Conservation Authority" (PDF). Toronto 2018 Budget. City of Toronto. 2018. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
8. "Welcome to Campbell House Museum". Retrieved April 6, 2020.
9. "About Casa Loma". casaloma.ca. Liberty Entertainment Group. 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
10. "Cedar Ridge Creative Centre". toronto.ca. City of Toronto. 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
11. "Doris McCarthy Gallery". University of Toronto Scarborough. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
12. "Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery". City of Toronto. 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
13. "About Us". arcturus.ca. Gallery Arcturus. 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
14. "Official Site". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
15. "Official site". InterAccess. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
16. "Gallery". Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.
17. lakeshoregrounds.ca
18. Baycrest Museum
19. "2018 by the Numbers" (PDF). Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada Annual Report 2018. Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada. 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
20. mztv.com
21. neilsonparkcreativecentre.com
22. "Performance Target Discussions" (PDF). Annual Report 2017–2018. Ontario Science Centre. 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
23. openstudio.ca
24. ohmuseum.ca
25. Osbourne branch Toronto Public Library
26. "Annual Reports". thepowerplant.org. The Power Plant. 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
27. Tezedec Synagogue website
28. "The Royal Ontario Museum Draws Highest Attendance Numbers in its History" (Press release). Royal Ontario Museum. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018 – via rom.on.ca.
29. copticmuseum-canada.org
30. Scarborough Museum
31. Taras Shevchenko Museum
32. "By the numbers". Annual Report 2017–2018. Textile Museum of Canada. 2018. p. 13. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
33. TD Bank Arts
34. Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre
35. "Branch Summary Statistics: January to December 2017" (PDF). 2017 Annual Performance Measures and Benchmarks. Toronto Public Library. 30 April 2018. p. 20. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
36. "Toronto Sculpture Garden". City of Toronto. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
37. "Toronto's First Post Office". Town of York Historical Society. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
38. umcontario.com
39. "Historic Zion Schoolhouse". North York Historical Society. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
40. "Toronto Stories". Myseum. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
41. Gee, marcus (14 July 2017). "The King-Spadina boom: What's behind the growth at Toronto's hottest intersection". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
42. Gordon, Andrea (16 October 2011). "Children's Own Museum to return – on wheels". The Toronto Star. Torstar Corporation. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
43. "'Small but mighty' Canadian Museum of Inuit Art closing its doors". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
44. "Museum of Inuit Art". 29 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-30.

External links

• Ontario Museum Association