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Museum Reconstruction - Part 1

By: Graham Iddon


April 3, 2014
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You have to break a lot of eggs for this omelette

In early February, a small group from the Bank’s Communications Department booked a brief tour of the main floor and first basement at the Wellington Street head office. It’s still in the demolition phase of the renovation, so please excuse the mess (we’ll get somebody to tidy it up soon). Obviously the Museum space was of particular interest to us and one of our hard-working photographers put on his yellow helmet and steel-toed boots and went along to photograph both our old space as well as our future space.

The actual demolition of the old Museum has not yet begun, so the Currency Museum is still more or less intact (no artifacts, of course). The temporary exhibition space is being used as a crew lunchroom and Gallery Two as storage. What has begun in earnest is the demolition of the basement cafeteria (we do like our demolition experts to be earnest). It is there, beneath the plaza at Bank and Wellington Streets, that the new Museum is planned to be - taking up the east end of the huge former cafeteria including the glass ceilinged ‘waterfall room’, and the large common area where staff events took place as recently as last summer.

Now it’s bare concrete, exposed ceiling beams and heaps of old cooking equipment, but in a few short years will be a beautiful, state-of-the-art museum space. Stay tuned for upcoming blogs tracking the progress of the Museum’s construction. Next time: a sneak peek at conceptual plans.

We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s): Blog posts

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The Museum Blog

September 8, 2025

The Central Bank in Your Classroom

In-person or virtual program: Learn more about the Bank of Canada and career paths in economics, finance and data analysis with this informative classroom presentation led by an employee of the central bank.
Content type(s): School programs Subject(s): Business, Economics, Financial literacy, Social studies Grade level(s): Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
September 4, 2025

Money math

Financial literacy resources for elementary students.
Content type(s): Educational toolkits Subject(s): Economics, Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Early childhood / Kindergarten, Grade 01, Grade 02, Grade 03, Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2
August 21, 2025

Whatever happened to the penny? A history of our one-cent coin.

By: Graham Iddon


The idea of the penny as the basic denomination of an entire currency system has been with Canadians for as long as there has been a Canada. But the one-cent piece itself has been gone since 2012.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History
August 6, 2025

Escaping debt: The risks and benefits of borrowing

Unlock financial literacy with challenging puzzles in this classroom escape room. Students will explore financial risk, credit scores, debt and interest with worksheets and an interactive game.
Content type(s): Lesson plans Subject(s): Financial literacy, Math, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2

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Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

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