Skip to content
  • FR
FR
  • About us
    Building, illuminated glass towers on either side of an old, square, stone building.

    About us

    We're here to help you understand what the Bank of Canada does and how it matters to you.

    About the Bank of Canada

    Find out what the Bank does, who runs the Bank and how it is separate from the political process.

    Connect with us

    We'd love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Visit

    Visit

    • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility and special needs
    • Code of conduct
    • COVID-19 protocols

    Plan your visit

    Here's what you need to know, how to make the most of your visit and where to find us.

    Sensory Sundays

    For Autism Awareness Month, the Museum will provide a sensory-friendly experience every Sunday.

  • Explore

    Exhibitions

    • Permanent exhibition
    • Special exhibitions
    • Travelling exhibitions
    • Past exhibitions

    Blog

    Collection

    • About the Collection
    • Collection Services
    • Canadian Bank Notes Series
    • Search the Collection
    Collage, photo of wild west street, old bank notes, old counterfeiting brochure.

    Security is in the bank note

    Security printing is a game of anticipating and responding to criminal threats. Counterfeiting is a game of anticipating and responding to bank note design. This cat and mouse relationship affects every aspect of a bank note.

  • Learn

    Learn

    • Activities and games
    • Education blog
    • External resources
    • Lesson plans
    • School programs
    • Video discussion guides

    Needs or wants? That is the question!

    Do you need it, or do you want it? That’s an important question to ask before buying anything. This activity is designed to teach kids how to prioritize their needs and wants, and how to make informed choices when shopping.

    Price check: Inflation in Canada

    All about inflation: what it is, what it means and how it's measured. Students will learn how the consumer price index is calculated and create their own student price index to measure the prices that matter most to them.

Notice of temporary closure
The Museum will be closed on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30 for maintenance.
  • Home
  • The Museum Blog

How’re We Doing So Far?

By: Graham Iddon


September 12, 2017

Really well, as a matter of fact

July First visitors around the Rocket Landing 2% interactive game.

“Key performance indicator.” That’s business lingo for measuring how well we’re doing. Unlike many of the Bank’s departments, it’s easy to measure the Museum’s success: visitor numbers. Not to brag (Ha, who am I kidding?) we had 2,823 people visit the Museum on Canada Day. The following Sunday and holiday Monday yielded a further 933 and 756 visitors, respectively. Visitorship has stayed extremely healthy since then, averaging between 350 and 400 visitors a day. For the month of July and the first three weeks of August, that adds up to just over 25,000 visitors (wow). As an unfair comparison, the Currency Museum (as the Museum used to be called) pulled in just under 9,000 visitors for the same period in 2012. I say “unfair” because Ottawa had an unprecedented influx of tourists this summer. There was just so much going on. One day this month we recorded a whopping 902 visitors when “La Machine” roared through the neighbourhood. So, it would seem that when a giant, fire-breathing mechanical dragon-horse battles a two-story-tall spider near the Museum, it’s a boost for our attendance numbers. Or maybe it was our fine display of share certificates that was the draw. There’s just no way to tell.

We could not have been better placed to take advantage of the huge Canada Day crowds.

"La Machine", the French street theatre and animatronic beast-makers, presented one of their spectacular shows in Ottawa this summer.

Complicating these straightforward statistics is the attendance we recorded at our information kiosk on both Canada Day and Colonel By Day. Together, the two events drew 4,300 people to the kiosk. If you add this to the visitors in July, nearly 30,000 people (from all over Canada and the world) know we are here and have taken an interest in us—if only a mere 25,000 actually visited the Museum. It’s all good, and we couldn’t be happier with our first few weeks of business.

Colonel By Day. The Rideau Canal is still a big attraction. Our booth is up behind the Bytown Museum on the hill.

The military presence at Colonel By Day was purely of the historical re-enactment variety.

Once again, the temporary tattoos were amazingly popular with kids.

One key feature of the Museum was not available during these few weeks: the gift shop. Every museum needs a gift shop; it’s a traditional part of a family visit, but ours wasn’t going to be ready for opening day. We opened the doors at 10:00 on August 22. OK, it wasn’t Black Friday at the mall, but a very respectable number of visitors perused the items on the shelves on what turned out to be a miserably rainy day. We hit our targets on the following two days.

So, what’s the key performance indicator for the gift shop? To have a respectable day, the number of transactions should equal 8 per cent of the number of visitors to the Museum. This sounds pretty paltry, but the gift shop is not mandated to turn a profit. Its purpose is more closely related to the Museum’s mandate. The gift shop is a last chance for visitors to ask questions and to solidify or broaden their experience. It’s one more space for conversations about the Bank and the economy and is considered an “experience augmentation.” However, we still want you to buy stuff!

The only cute stuffed animal you can buy here is one seen on our money. We don’t sell monkeys or bunnies.

We’ll even sell you some used money.

The priciest things in the shop are these hand-painted, cast-iron mechanical coin banks.

I will say again just how happy we are with our first few weeks of operation. The good reviews are rolling in, and we’re already well on our way to meeting our visitorship targets for 2017. Yay!

The worst review we saw was one star from a guy who reviewed us in May. Not bad for a closed museum!

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

Subscribe to The Museum Blog
The Museum Blog

October 31, 2018

The Devil is in the Hairdo

By: Graham Iddon


Have you ever seen eyes in the bark of trees? Wolves in the clouds? How about spooky things in bank notes?
Content type(s): Blog posts
October 2, 2018

Canada Financially Comes of Age

By: Paul S. Berry


The First War Loan included bonds in denominations of up to $100,000. They matured in ten years and paid interest at 5 percent.
Content type(s): Blog posts
October 1, 2018

#AskACurator Day 2018

By: Graham Iddon


What would you ask a curator? Your chance was September 12, when the annual Twitter event #AskACurator Day took place on computers, tablets and mobile phones all around the globe.
Content type(s): Blog posts
August 30, 2018

Happy Birthday, Dear Bank of Canada Museum!

By: Graham Iddon


A little grade 8 math revealed that, since our last full year of operation, we have increased Museum attendance by 91 per cent (pause while the audience claps).
Content type(s): Blog posts
June 13, 2018

Unpacking the Collection 8

By: Patricia Measures


Dora’s work is as familiar as the change that jingles in your pocket. In all likelihood, you have come in contact with her work while using coinage to pay for your morning cup of coffee.
Content type(s): Blog posts
May 8, 2018

Operation Fish

By: Robert Low


Operation Fish was the largest movement of physical wealth in history.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, History, Social studies Grade level(s): 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
April 18, 2018

New Acquisitions

By: Paul S. Berry


To distinguish the new production from that of 1936, a small impression was added to the reverse dies, creating a raised dot on coins struck from those tools.
Content type(s): Blog posts
March 14, 2018

The Bank-NOTEable Woman is Here!

By: Graham Iddon


Even if you’re not familiar with Viola Desmond’s story, it will likely become clear that the theme of this note is human rights and social justice.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 27, 2018

Unpacking the Collection 7

By: David Bergeron


Canadian waters have also claimed their fair share of treasure ships.
Content type(s): Blog posts
January 30, 2018

Before the Erebus

By: Graham Iddon


Now you might wonder just how a museum specializing in economics and currency expects to interpret the history of a legendary arctic explorer—through money, of course.
Content type(s): Blog posts
  • « Previous
  • 1
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 15
  • Next »
Go To Page

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

  • Things to do

  • Plan your visit
  • Find educational resources
  • Search the Collection
  • Connect with us
  • Things to see

  • Canadian bank notes
  • Exhibitions
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Things to know

  • Accessibility and special needs
  • Code of conduct
  • COVID-19 protocols
  • Privacy
●●
Bank of Canada Museum

Visit the Bank of Canada web site ›

We use cookies to help us keep improving this website.

Accept and continue