Canadian Canoe Museum

The Canadian Canoe Museum welcomes visitors from all over Canada and the world to explore the watercraft’s stories and the pivotal role they play in understanding our past – and our collective future.

Photo: SÉO-Route Champlain

The Museum’s galleries and programs inspire connection, curiosity and new understanding.

Photo: Margo Pfeiff

Due to limited space, more than 500 of the Museum’s vast collection of watercraft are currently stored in a space that is inaccessible to the public and inadequate for collection care.

Photo: Fusionriver Photography

Opening in summer 2023, the Museum’s new home on the Little Lake waterfront in Peterborough, ON, will ensure that a fundamental part of Canadian heritage is not lost.

Photo: Rendering by Lett Architects Inc.

Visitors of the new Museum will be able to walk in the front door and paddle out the back!

Photo: Fusionriver Photography

“Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe” - Henry David Thoreau

The canoe has held a special place in Canada’s history. Its simplicity and versatility were uniquely suited to our landscape and trading amongst diverse people. While it is no longer our primary method of travel, it remains an enduring symbol of our stories. It is an embodiment of Indigenous Peoples’ connection to their land, culture, and community. For these reasons, in 1997, The Canadian Canoe Museum was founded in Peterborough, Ontario. Built upon the remarkable collection of the late Professor Kirk Wipper and reflecting more than 50 years of active collecting, the Museum’s collection is the finest of its kind.

The Museum shares the art, culture, and heritage of paddled watercraft through engaging exhibits and activities, offering visitors of all ages a wide range of immersive, hands-on programs, including paddling lessons, artisan workshops, tours, field trips, and more.

As part of its responsibility for this cultural asset of national significance (Senate of Canada, 2013), the Museum is building itself a new home that aspires to be as innovative as the canoe itself. A purpose-built facility on the water, with an array of indoor and outdoor spaces and all-new exhibits, will allow the Museum to deliver on its mission in ways that, right now, it can only imagine.

At Power Corporation, we applaud The Canadian Canoe Museum’s mission of bringing Canada’s history to life and support its continued efforts to acknowledge the canoe’s integral importance to Indigenous communities’ heritage and their connection to the land.