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Museum Reconstruction - Part 2

By: Graham Iddon


June 16, 2014

Take a peek at the proposed plans for our new museum

We are coming up on a year since we closed the doors on the physical museum. During that year, we’ve worked very hard to make sure everybody knows that we are still a functioning museum and one that will be opening its doors again in a few years on a beautiful new space, with an expanded mission and mandate. In case you don’t believe us, we’ve arranged for a sneak peek at some real architectural plans and elevations.

As you can imagine, we are all very excited about the preliminary plans for our new museum space. True, we have to apply adjectives like ‘may’ and ‘likely’ and ‘proposed’ when speaking of the different aspects of said plans; we know that many changes may occur as renovations progress. Nevertheless there are things we can tell you and, frankly, we’re just bursting to do so.

Probably the best news is that the new museum will have more than twice the exhibition space of the old museum. You may wonder how we’ll fill it with such tiny things as coins and bills—don’t fret, our future museum will also be an interpretive centre for the Bank, bringing to Canadians the work of the Bank in creative and memorable ways. And that’s going to take some room.

Outside, we will have a highly visible street level entrance. No longer will we be a museum people tend to stumble upon; instead our entrance is going to be very conspicuous among the ever flowing rivers of walk-by traffic. Visitors will enter our space through a large glass structure, then take stairs or an elevator to reach the Museum itself, one level below ground.

Okay, so far we can’t tell you all that much and much of what we can tell you is far from certain. Nevertheless, we’re happy to be able to at least begin lifting the curtain on what, from our perspective, has all the earmarks of an exciting future.

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

February 2, 2023

Teaching art with currency

By: Adam Young


From design to final product, bank notes and coins can be used to explore and teach art, media and process.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, Education Grade level(s): Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
January 20, 2023

New Acquisitions—2022 Edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


It’s a new year—the perfect time to look back at some notable artifacts the Museum added to the National Currency collection from 2022. Each object has a unique story to tell about Canada’s monetary and economic history.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 6, 2022

Money: it’s a question of trust

By: Graham Iddon


Photo collage, parking meter, old bank notes and an early bank card.
The dollars and cents we use wouldn’t be worth anything to anybody if we didn’t have confidence in it. No matter if it’s gold or digits on a hard drive, public trust is the secret ingredient in a successful currency.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy
November 14, 2022

The day Winnipeg was invaded

By: David Bergeron


People on the street were randomly stopped and searched, and some were even arrested and imprisoned in an internment camp. Even German marks replaced Canadian currency in circulation—in the form of If Day propaganda notes.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History Grade level(s): Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
October 18, 2022

Positive notes

By: Krista Broeckx


The imagery on the Bank of Canada’s 1935 note series depicts the country’s rich industrial history.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History

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