Virtual Learning & Tours
Experience the Canadian Canoe Museum from your home or classroom! Connect live with our staff for a virtual tour or field trip, or explore the collection’s stories on your own schedule with our on-demand learning and media resources – including a new self-guided virtual museum walk-through!
Experience our Museum… Virtually
Virtual Learning
Virtual field trips for schools, at-home printables, video resources & more!
360° Virtual Tours
Explore our Exhibits and Collection Centre.
Live Virtual Tours
Join a live virtual tour with our staff and access our tour archives.
360° Self-Guided Tours
The Canadian Canoe Museum’s Collection – declared by the Canadian Senate in 2013 to be a cultural asset of national significance – is the most comprehensive collection of its kind anywhere in the world.
Our current museum offers exhibits that share the stories of 130 of these paddled watercraft. The remaining 500+ watercraft and hundreds of related artifacts are stored in our Collection Centre—an unheated warehouse that is inaccessible to the public. With your support, we are building a new museum on the water that will make all of our collection available under one roof for visitors.
In the meantime, we invite you to visit our current Exhibits and Collection Centre virtually on your desktop, tablet or mobile device.
Thank you to the Community Museum Operating Grant-Digital Capacity Grant for making this Exhibits Virtual Tour possible.
Thank you to the Ontario Trillium Foundation Resilient Communities Fund for making this Collection Centre 360 Tour possible.
Upcoming Virtual Tours
There are currently no tours scheduled. Please stay tuned for more tours in 2023.
Past Tours
Moving the Collection:
Behind-the-Scenes with Curator Jeremy Ward
What does it take to move a collection of over 600 canoes and kayaks? Join The Canadian Canoe Museum’s Curator, Jeremy Ward, for a look at the unique challenges and surprises of moving a collection of this size (and the stories these watercrafts carry) to their new home at the water’s edge.
Thank you to the Ontario Trillium Foundation Resilient Communities Fund for making this Virtual Tour possible.
Virtual Tour: Artisan & Industry Gallery
Why did the small town of Peterborough, Ontario become a wooden canoe building hub of world renown? What were the building techniques and innovations that drove the new leisure market for canoes? How did the factory change the canoe from its Indigenous and artisanal origins? Join Curator Jeremy Ward for a virtual tour of our Artisan and Industry gallery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I book a virtual tour for my club or group?
Yes! Get in touch to arrange a live virtual tour of the Origins gallery, featuring the main Indigenous building traditions of Northern North America: the dugouts of the West Coast First Nations, the skin-on-frame kayaks, and the birch bark canoes. Your members can join from your meeting location (you’ll need a screen and speakers) or from their own device in the comfort of home. Limited availability.
As an educator, can I book a virtual tour for my students?
Yes! For schools and youth groups, we offer live, curriculum-connected virtual field trips. To learn more, visit our Virtual Field Trips
What platform do your virtual tours use?
We are currently using Zoom, which is free and does not require you to have an account. We will email you the day of your virtual tour with a link to join the tour. If you did not receive an email, be sure to check your spam or junk folder!
How long are the virtual tours?
45-60 minutes depending on the level of public engagement.