Canadian Museum Of History (Canadian Children's Museum Included)

We planned on spending the morning here, and we should have allocated more time. We attended the Napoleon VR experience which cut into the time we could have spent viewing exhibits. (The VR thing was meh in my opinion but my husband enjoyed it.) In about 2 hours, we didn't even cover the first floor. The totems were amazing, and the displays were beautiful. The Northwest Indigenous Peoples exhibit was a little crowded early mid-week, but it thinned out a bit in the First Peoples Hall. Had to run to a food tour, otherwise we might have spent most of the day there.

It’s a really high-quality museum, the admission price is far too high and the layout is so strange. It’s hard to find a bathroom. Feels it needs a little updating generally.

The Canadian Museum of History is a large museum, with lots to see. Their main exhibit is the Canadian History Hall. It is divided into three sections. The first is from earliest times to 1763. (In 1763, France had to cede Canada to the British after they lost the French and Indian War.) The earliest peoples to cross into North America from Asia were the Clovis people. The spear points on display were made 13,500 years ago. The second section focuses on Colonial Canada, 1763 to 1914. One display represented the War of 1812. In that war, the U.S. invaded Canada to take it over. The last section of the Canadian History Hall is devoted to modern Canada from 1914 to the present. One case showed teen culture of the 1960s. A modern Canadian hero is Terry Fox. He lost a leg to cancer at age 18 and decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. It was known as the Marathon of Hope. Terry had to stop about halfway through when the cancer returned and he died in 1981, aged 22. You can see a prosthetic designed by Fox and Ben Speicher for his grueling runs. Relations with the United States are very important to Canada. Displays show a ceremony in Gander to mark the 1st anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and flags at the border between Washington and British Columbia. (The exhibit was made in 2013 and has not been updated to reflect the current trade problems.) One of the problems in Canada was the Indian Residential Schools. First Nations children were taken from their families and sent to these schools to force them to abandon the old ways and "Canadianise" them. Conditions were horrible and many died. The 2013 stained glass window by Christi Belcourt is titled "Looking Ahead" and recognises residential school survivors and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's official apology in 2008. (An identical window was installed above the west entrance to the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament Buildings.) The museum also had a special exhibit "Napoleon: The Immersive Saga". The first part was an exhibit of background information, such as a representation of the Battle of Waterloo. In the second part, you don VR headsets and watch Napoleon lead you through his key battles. It was a walking experience, similar to the ones I saw in London of Pompeii and Cleopatra. It felt strange when the (images of the) cavalry marched though you. Very realistic!

Amazing Experience. Canadian history in all it's good and bad. Filled with wonderful First Nation artifacts and displays. Very educational and inspiring.

We absolutely loved the Canadian Museum of History! The exhibitions are fascinating, beautifully presented, and give you a much deeper understanding of Canada’s past and cultural heritage. We were particularly impressed by the way the museum presents the history and cultures of Indigenous peoples, while also acknowledging the difficult and often painful chapters of Canada’s past. It feels thoughtful, honest, and respectful rather than simply presenting a polished version of history. The totem poles are absolutely spectacular and worth seeing in person! Don’t skip the 45-minute guided tour. Our guide added a lot of interesting context and made the visit even more enjoyable. Highly recommended if you’re visiting Ottawa!

We all enjoyed our time but I think the overall experience could be improved. The good: The Grand Hall with the totem poles is stunning and I loved discovering the various rooms of the various Pacific Northwest tribes. I also loved the gallery dedicated to Early Canada and was stunned by some of the artifacts and appreciated the reproductions you could touch. The Children’s Museum was amazing in its depth of experiences. Improvements: signage. While it’s nice to know what an item is, like a pipe or a dress, the signage doesn’t always give enough context. While the history, particularly in galleries 2 and 3, is impressive, I wish the children’s experience was incorporated into the main exhibits more instead of off in its own area. We were dragging our child through and werenot alone. The winding exhibit hallways don’t give you a clear line of sight to the rest of your party so you could get separated. The Canadian history is also presented with an assumption of knowledge. But for visitors from elsewhere (or newer Canadians), I think more context could be given. Some items were not suitable for younger viewers. The cafe is overpriced for what you get. The parking is strange, not sure the architect took that into account.

We stopped at these museums during a day trip to Ottawa, but there is more than a day’s worth of exhibits and activity here. I especially loved the exhibit design, particularly the Canadian history laid out in concentric circles on the upper floors. The kiddos loved the smaller children’s room in the History museum (nice for a little break) and the larger, connecting Children’s Museum which offers so many different activities in a setting designed to give you a little taste of everything from around the world. The location is great (neighboring bagel shop was top notch and has a kid’s space for reading/play) and outside is the Riverwalk, with bike trails, events, and a cool playground. Parking is available in the garage. The kids were free as part of a summer promo. Excellent all around!

We walked over the bridge to visit this site- worth a stop for the setting and architecture alone! We spent about 3 hours exploring the collections in this comprehensive museum, spending more time on topics that interested us and moving through others. Ended with some seltzers from the panorama cafe - great views but I would eat elsewhere. Uncrowded, well curated and well worth a visit.

Then this museum is for you…explains Canadian history from Indigenous People through today. Does it present the complete, unedited history? Probably not but it was refreshing to see a museum that doesn’t hide all the warts of a country’s history. One suggestion: Allow a lot of time. It’s a big museum with lots to see and read.

Enormous. You definitely need more than one day to do it properly. We parked at the museum and did the bottom floor (the First Nations floor). It is very well done...though overrun with school groups. The totem poles are amazing, I love the fake house fronts. Very well done. We then took a break, walked across the river to check out Rideau Canal + Parliament Hill and get lunch. Then walked back and did the 2nd floor. Kind of weird that the 2nd floor starts again with pre-European cultures. I thought that was pretty well-covered on the 1st floor. So it felt repetitive and the information was related in a more boring way. We never made it to the 3rd or 4th floors because our brains were full. Parking is very easy. So convenient that we could also walk across the bridge to see some of Ottawa.

We arrived just after 10 am and found out there was a special virtual reality event about Napoleon. You put on your headset and for approximately 30 minutes you are imbedded into his world! It was fantastic. After that we started to explore all the floors and at 4:30pm we were done - 6.5 hours and we enjoyed every minute. The Panorama Cafe was okay but I believe it could have been better.

We had what turned out to be a personal guided tour with Ralph after some confusion about our booking that we had made in January from UK. It turned out to be a very full and frank overview of the museum. We then went around on our own. The Residential Schools section on the third floor was extremely harrowing but important to remember and learn from. We needed a break so went for a coffee in the cafe, a mistake! Big queues, noisy with school parties and the coffee was awful. There’s a bagel place across the road, we should have gone there instead. Overall an excellent museum, beautifully designed and a very thought provoking experience.

It really was an amazing place. We spent 4 hours but if you wanted to take your time and add in movies shown there, You could have stayed longer easily. As many have said it is well laid out. Impressive displays and building. Very quiet when we went mid- April in the morning. Only small issue was cafeteria, though it has great views the food is average. Highly recommended to visit the Canadian Museum of History.

Note to self…,. I’ve been to this Museum more than 20 times over the years with my children, now with grandchildren. On Sunday March 15/26 there was an unbelievable amount of people at the kids museum. Mostly kids 2 and under, I asked a staff member what’s the limit of people he said 300. I told him no way is there 300 people here, maybe 300 kids + their family does not equal 300! The amount of babies toddlers was incredible. Daycare’s separate the under 2’s for good reason, it’s a disaster waiting to happen, they can easily get injured. You can’t rely on parents constantly supervising, they want their kids to explore and runaround. And believe me the amount of under 2 year olds having to doge out of their as they were unstable. The older kids 5-6 year olds you had to be in their backs constantly to watch out for the little ones. Never ever again will I go in a Sunday morning at $89 for 4 it was a stressful time and not worth the money. Every room with activities were extremely packed. You need separate times for the under 2’s, otherwise it’s an accident waiting to happen.

Visited twice before but this but the first time in 20 years. Things have noticeably changed. Great First Nations representation but it is excessive. One of the past highlights was the hockey display eg Canada - Russia series it was gone! Little or nothing on the industry and the people who work in them in different regions of our fabulous country eg grain farming in the West and fisheries in the East. Big emphasis on Ontario and Quebec but even then it didn't hit points it could have . No doubt determining the content of the museum is a challenging task but look at how much space is used for what purpose and I think you will see what I mean. The fact that this institution is buried well under other Ottawa attractions in Trip Advisor helps to prove my point .

We spent two or three hours here and could have spent longer but we were a bit worn out. I also just don't have that much stamina for museums - my brain gets full at a certain point! We enjoyed the Retro exhibit. The stamps exhibit was extremely interesting if you are into that - I wish we had visited it earlier when our feet and brains were fresher :) The St Lawrence Impressionists exhibit was good, and I appreciated the comparatively narrow scope of it. I found the First Peoples Hall very interesting and particularly liked the short films in the small theatre there. I really liked the Tsimshian gallery but we rushed through it towards the end of our visit as we were getting tired and hungry. ( We left lunch too late and the Panorama Cafe was closed when we finally tried to go!) I will have to come back to give it a closer look. Similarly, i was keen to see the films at Cine+ but we didn't have the time or the energy for it!

One learns a lot about the indigenous people of Canada, their lives, struggles, and their way of doing things. The exhibit about Canadian musicians and stamps were very interesting, too. One can easily spend 3-4 hours looking at the various exhibits.

We came here to learn more about the indigenous cultures of Canada and for the children's museum. They have a great set up here, we were able to go to the children's museum right after getting our tickets to wear out our daughter a bit before going to the main museum. The children's museum is really interesting, much more than we had expected. It is really great that they have so many interactive and educational displays about different cultures around the world. Following the path from Asia, to Egypt to Mexico was a lot of fun. They have the room to rent marbles and other things to build as well. Definitely a must stop if you have kids. After she got a bit of her energy out we went upstairs to see the main exhibits. The long hallway with the mirrors telling the stories of places around the country was really interesting, a bit tricky to read, but very unique. The layout to walk through is fantastic. Walking through history from the indigenous communities, to the invasion from the French and British, to the modern day is so well laid out. Not too many interactive displays to keep our daughter entertained, but just enough. It was absolutely fascinating to basically walk through the history of Canada. Going downstairs to the great room/hall was incredible, the totem poles are enormous. Getting to see them in person and read about how the people carve them out was really impressive. I'm really glad we made the trip here and feel we got our money's worth.

Excellent museum experience. The museum is on several levels and starts on the lower ground floor with a large hall of First People’s history, including several totem poles, sculpture and artifacts. On this level is also an exhibit of every stamp issued by Canada Post. Next level is a coffee shop, children’s museum, gift shop and special exhibit area. Carry on up and you then move through a fairly chronological history of Canada, displayed in an interesting and informative way. Allow plenty of time if you want to get the most out of this museum. I did not go to the children’s museum but did take about 30 minutes for lunch and was there 4+ hours and could have stayed longer. Enjoyed this museum, I can see it is not for everyone but if you like history or are interested in Canada’s historical story this is a good place to visit. There is a cafe/ restaurant on the lower ground floor as well as the main floor coffee shop.

Lets start with how impressive the architecture of this building is! Wide open and unique with floor to sky windows! The Indigenous first nations exhibit and the Retro Rock exhibits were our favorites - lots of amazing stories tucked into every corner of this museum! Visiting here was a great way to spend an afternoon and learn some history we never knew before! Nice location and the views from behind the cafeteria across the Ottawa Rive are spectacular! (They even have a kids exhibit ....surprise! .. although we never actually checked it out we thought it was a nice touch -- especially for those families bringing young'uns along! Definitely worth seeing if you are checking out the sights in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. Vince & Cath August, 2025

The museum is lovely on the outside, but not as interesting on the inside. It would have been better to have more opportunities for interaction and immersive learning. We found that the exhibits were hard to connect with (despite being Canadian) and that they did not necessarily accurately reflect the experiences of Canadians who were actually here during many of the events shown. The museum felt biased and lopsided, and there seemed to be a lack of staff around to provide additional information or answer questions.

Visited with two kids and two nephews this week, ages 11-13. They loved reliving their childhood memories of the Children’s Museum :) as well as the rest of the displays, especially the WWI and WWII eras of the Canadian History hall.

Fantastic museum with in depth and expansive presentations from all eras of Canada's history, warts and all. A must visit to understand more about Canada.

Very nice museum. We learnt a lot about Canadian history. We only had 2 hours and it's definitely not enough. Would definitely recommend a visit.

Excellent museum! The hall with the totem poles and First Nations exhibits were very well done. We learned a great amount about Canada on the upper floors that we did not know previously. Highly recommended!

Wonderful exhibits. Would have liked the guides to be more interactive with the visitors. The story of Canada was so informative and insightful

Why did they have to make it so complicated? There is in fact a logic to the way displays are laid out - but it is not self-evident. Be sure to pick up a leaflet giving the floor plan, it helps a lot. Absolutely superb artefacts, particularly the First Nations material. It knocks spots off the Royal BC Museum, which used to do this very well, but no longer. Sensitive issues such as First Nations, LBGT etc, handled well. A bit in danger of becoming Woke. Very little focus on political history.

The Canadian Museum of History is located just across the river from Ottawa in Gatineau on the Quebec side of the Ontario-Quebec border. The museum itself is very good to excellent. The way things are presented, the use of technology, the flow of the museum, etc. Really no complaints in that regard. However, there seems to be a tremendous amount of wasted space. There are so many public areas of the museum that could have additional exhibits, curation, galleries -- whatever. The complex is huge but much of it feels empty. The only complaint I have is the history. They've gone all-in on woke. There are countless exhibits and galleries devoted to everything and anything Indian/Native/Aboriginal/First Nations/Indigenous. Meanwhile, important chapters like the American Revolution or War of 1812 are covered with literally on one placard in a single wall panel. How do you not have a full gallery on the American Revolution and United Empire Loyalists? Or, how do you not have a full gallery on the War of 1812, which arguably forced Canada to begin the process of self-governance from Britain? And there was absolutely NOTHING on Canada's monarchy.

A little overwhelming with hundreds of artefacts to see. Trouble was, way too dark to see all of the displays. The totem poles were great and well set out. Lower floor better than upper floor.

This certainly is a good museum; however, it’s totally overwhelming. Plus, the lower floors, with many indigenous artifact on display, are better than the higher ones, which include unappealing corridors of Canada’s modern history with hundreds of artifacts impossible to go through (not to memtion remember). Coming from Stockholm, Sweden, where we have the fab Skansen with numerous original houses and other buildings from different epochs, which you can enter and see/explore from the inside, I was extremely disappointed to learn that The Canadian Museum of History used to use the same interctive and truly appealing concept. But then everything was changed into something more ‘educational’. Meaning, you’re going to walk around among innumerable artficts and, unless you spend days reading their lenghty descriptions, which is impossible for an average person, you won’t remember a thing. What a shame. The only original building left on display is a Ukrainian church - it’s really great that you can enter it and explore the architecture and atmosphere hands-on. Many other visitors were looking for it as well. Why change the winning concept…? No idea 🤷‍♀️

This is a large and really excellent museum with tons to see. The comprehensive Canadian History Hall starts on the third floor and includes three galleries covering early, colonial, and modern Canada. As an American, I learned so much about the country, particularly the development of its unique national identity. The lower level focuses on Indigenous history, and includes models of native houses and displays on the first peoples of Canada. Also on the lower level is the Stamp Collection, which houses every stamp issued by Canada. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to view the special First Royals exhibition on the ground (second) floor. The building also houses the Canadian Children's Museum, a large-screen theater, two cafes, and a nice gift shop. With all of these engaging exhibits, it's probably best to allot several hours to explore. Although the museum is actually in Gatineau, Quebec, it's an easy 25-minute walk from Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

The experience was amazing - starting with the architecture of the building. Each element of the building and each exhibit was perfectly assembled. I have visited numerous museums and have never seen the quality and professional assembly of not only the attractive buildings, but also each and every exhibit. My regret is that I didn’t allow more time. But there will be a time in the future to devote more time. I would only recommend a little more variety in the restaurant menu.

This is probably one of the best museums I've visited! The museum has four floors, each with different themes. It has a vast collection and information about aboriginal people as well as the history of Canadian Royals, the colonists, and the modernization of Canada. I was surprised that I spent two hours on just the first floor alone (the aboriginal). Unfortunately, I had to speed through the rest of the floors since I was in a rush. It also seems like a great place for kids since there's a floor/section dedicated to kids. Scattered throughout the museum are also audio recordings, videos, short films, and games to interact with. So if you take your time like I did, I'm sure you'll spend a whole day there.

Contains the complete history of Canada from the First Peoples to today. The museum is laid out well moving from early to modern times. A few notes: Some displays are more interesting than others. Kids will find some sections tie into what they are studying in school but then the rest will lose their attention as there is ALOT of “stuff”. Some items are just on display with very little info - it loses your attention quickly. Some items do not contain enough info (the first floor First People’s artifacts often have little or no explanation). Some overlap with War Museum - we found some quite repetitive. Overall we recommend it but if detailed museums aren’t your thing just pick areas of interest and focus on those. Trying to do it all is too much…it starts blending together as the artifacts are just one after another and displays vary in the level of presentation.

There is great amount of history which is very well laid out. For someone who has no knowledge of Canadian history, the volume of information will need more than one visit if you wished to gain a deeper understanding. Having said that, the layout and clarity of information allows for a clear oversight on one visit. What is impressive is that all artefacts appears be be very well preserved and not looking tired.

A great location to experience a short walk through Canada’s history, from early Inuit period to current days. The Grand Hall with all those Totem Pols is just incredible! Definitely worth a visit (have at least 4 to 5 hours available in your schedule).

This is a fantastic place to visit if you want to understand the history of Canada - I walked away with loads of information and a good appreciation of the history of Canada and the wars leading to independence. The first nations exhibits are outstanding. Hint: Check the website, on Thursdays entry is free between 5-7pm, it closes at 9pm. You need to book on line and collect your ticket on arrival with the booking reference number.

Interesting enough, but quite a confusing layout. Signage was quite poor, and when you go in it's not clear where to buy tickets. It just looks like a foyer of a cinema. I understand that the shape of the building does not help the layout, but better signage would be useful. We met a few other people wandering around looking confused.

We visited the museum on the 4th of July. There is a parking lot under the museum (13$ for a day). The entrance fee includes access to the Cine+ with various films (see timetable at the box office). There are 4 levels and it will take you a whole day to see them all. There is a Children's Museum for the children. Take time to wander through the building and check out the Zen garden outside.

My tickets were not delivered on time for visit. Had to purchase tkts at counter. Waiting for reimbursement

It has changed so much!!!! I grew up going to this museum as a child. I loved exploring the ships hull, school, hospital and buildings depicting life back then. It was so engaging and interactive. I had such fond memories visiting as a child. I moved away but was back visiting and was so excited to share this experience with my kids who are 8 and 12. I told them all about it. Unfortunately I didn’t realize renovations had been done and we were all disappointed. Only the church remained. Why mess with such a good thing? Interactive games on tv screens are not what memories are made off and what has replaced the interactive aspect of this area. Happy the children’s museum has remained much the same and the beloved bus is still there at the entrance. My kids are older so we didn’t spend much time in the Children’s museum. Happy we went on their free Thursday evenings so we didn’t have to pay.

Beautiful grounds and exhibits, but very poorly executed on levels 1 and 2. Uppers levels a bit more intuitive to navigate.

One of The Best Museums in Canada! We definitely enjoyed wandering around the museum. Very impressed with the Grand Hall, filled with traditional house fronts and the world's largest collection of totem poles!! An amazingly beautiful building housing very important artifacts. My favourite piece was the Bill Reid sculpture...the original cast from the piece (Jade canoe) that sits at Vancouver Airport! The Canadian History Hall was also well done if you have time to follow the time line. Of great importance is also the "MORNING STAR – GAMBEH THEN" by Alex Janvier’s, painted in 1993. Take a moment to sit in the red Adirondack chairs on the first floor and enjoy the piece in comfort. The admission fee was well worth the price...a priceless experience!

This museum offers a comprehensive history of Canada from the beginnings to present day. Honestly, if you wanted to read everything, it would probably take three days to go through the museum. We spent about 4 hours there. The first floor is dedicated to the native 'first nation' people, and has exhibits on their tools and clothing, etc. The second floor is for exhibits that change periodically. The third and fourth floor includes the history from the European settlers through modern day Canada. It talked about the formation of Canada, and building of railroads, and other formative events. As someone from the US, there was a lot I didn't know about Canada, and found it quite interesting. On the fourth floor there were exhibits that covered topics such as Quebec separation efforts, as well as what it is like being the "neighbor to the US" which I found to be among the most interesting of the exhibits.

This museum had a lot of information about indigenous people and their history in Canada. Viewing this portion of the museum took us almost a whole day. We just got up to the war of 1812 and we had tired ourselves out. We left and hope we can pick up the history we missed at the next museum. They had a very thorough accounting of the history but you really need to devote two days to see this museum. I was disappointed that we had to leave before finishing. It is, however, a great museum. Definitely worth the visit.

This is a must visit... a bit pricey, but worth it! Allow at minimum, half a day to tour this incredible place. The spatial arrangements add to the experience– especially arriving at the great hall, where the indigenous totems and longhouses are located. One cannot help, but sense an overwhelming of incredible awe and admiration. Ride down the escalator towards this great hall... to really enjoy a moving vantage point to experience this space! Allow plenty of time to walk around, thank goodness there were many seats scattered throughout so one may sit down for a rest. Good for seniors like myself. The only drawback is that there's always a long line up at the gallery area cafe. Use the exhibition guide and follow its path/ map as it's a bit confusing navigating the many exhibits on the various levels.

This is a very large museum which we found very interesting. We also watched a film on the Arctic which was included in the ticket price and it gives you a chance to sit down! Currently there is a special exhibition on children's tv which would obviously be of more interest to Canadians than to us English visitors.

Great place. You learn a lot about Canda History and evolution. Also, you can access to children’s museum which is amazing. Great experience

I visited this museum about 20 years ago as a student and this time came with my family. My 9-year-old son was fascinated with the many high-quality exhibits. The Indigenous exhibits are nothing short of amazing. I could have spent a full day just exploring those. You think you know your country and the people within it but then you find new perspectives and stories of which you had never heard. The other sections of the museum were also very well done and the museum itself is very easy to navigate. They were also very cognizant that children may be coming through the exhibits and presented the events in ways that the children could understand in an manner that would not upset them. I would recommend kids of 8-18 would be well-served attending. New Canadians are also able to attend at no charge with the Kanoo pass, as are veterans and Indigenous peoples. They have a children's museum too but we did not attend as it really was geared toward kindergarten-aged kids. The Panorama Cafe on site is something I would recommend you avoid. Overpriced and very small, mediocre portions.