New museum’s Research & Knowledge Centre to be named in recognition of this generous gift
BMO Financial Group today announced a $650,000 investment in The Canadian Canoe Museum’s new 85,000 square-foot-facility at the water’s edge.
This generous gift is the capital campaign’s first from a financial institution and in recognition, the new museum’s archives and archives workroom will be named the BMO Financial Group Research and Knowledge Centre.
To be built alongside the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway, the new museum will feature a dedicated space for the organization’s growing collection of rare books, maps and archival materials, as well as film, video and recorded oral histories. This space, which doesn’t exist in the current museum, will be built to a Class A controlled environment standard that is designed for the materials it will house. Guests using this space will be surrounded by a unique reference library with access to individual study spaces and large work surfaces, along with a comfortable environment for knowledge sharing and the digital documentation of new stories.
”As Canada’s oldest bank, serving communities for more than 200 years, BMO is proud to support The Canadian Canoe Museum,” said Sheri Griffiths, Regional President, Business Banking, Greater Ontario Division, BMO Bank of Montreal. “The new BMO Financial Group Research and Knowledge Centre will offer a unique opportunity for visitors to connect with – and gain a deeper understanding of our country’s history.”
“At BMO, we believe it is our purpose to boldly grow the good in business and in life, which includes a commitment to fostering an inclusive society by being a catalyst for positive change. The bank’s commitment to The Canadian Canoe Museum is a reflection of the deep-rooted relationships we nurture with Indigenous communities across Canada,” adds Stephen Fay, Head, Indigenous Banking North America, BMO Bank of Montreal. “We’re proud to pay tribute to the Indigenous communities and their intergenerational knowledge of the canoe that has been shared for many generations.”
The new museum has been designed by the award-winning team of heneghan peng (Dublin, Ireland) and Kearns Mancini Architects (Toronto, Canada). The building, purpose-built for the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft, will blend almost seamlessly into its landscape, emerging from the drumlin and complementing the waterway.
“The Research and Knowledge Centre is an integral space in the new museum – one that will offer opportunities to learn and collaborate that right now, we can only imagine. We are grateful for this generous gift from BMO Financial Group – and for the potential that it brings,” said Carolyn Hyslop, Executive Director. “The Centre will be an inclusive and safe space for First Peoples, Métis and Inuit, Indigenous Knowledge Holders, and academics to share, encourage understanding and conduct cultural and ceremonial practices.”
The new museum will be supported by a $65 million capital campaign, and has received foundational financial support from municipal, provincial and federal governments. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation has invested $7.5 million, building on its more than 20-year-long legacy of leadership with the museum.
About the new museum:
The Canadian Canoe Museum stewards the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft, and is currently housed in a 1960s-era former factory building. The new museum will make accessible all 600 watercraft, thousands of small artifacts and an archive. The museum has partnered with world-class exhibition design firm GSM Project to create one-of-a-kind visitor experiences.
About BMO Financial Group:
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider – the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $839 billion as of July 31, 2019, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.
