The cost of protecting Manitoba’s museums

St. Vital

When I joined the Association of Manitoba Museums in 2023, I learned that the Whiteshell Natural History Museum was closed. I worked at the museum at the start of my career in the early 1980s and had even donated a gray squirrel that I had taxidermied. The 1959 log cabin that housed the museum closed in 2017 due to structural problems and mold. Although the original cabin could not be repaired, parts of the structure were salvaged. The granite fieldstone fireplace that had warmed museum visitors on cool, rainy days now stands at the centre of a visitor plaza that was opened in 2025. It is surrounded by a reception building, amphitheatre, classroom, and exhibit space. The original front porch is a gateway to the site.

When museum buildings degrade, it puts irreplaceable museum collections at risk. This is happening across Manitoba at an alarming rate.

The Winnipeg Railway Museum has been closed for several years while undergoing major building renovations to protect its historic trains and railway artifacts. The roof has been repaired, but the east wall must be replaced before it can reopen. The estimated cost remaining is $3 million.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, Man., has the largest collection of flying trainer aircraft in Canada. The collection is housed in a Second World War-era hangar with a unique wooden-truss roof that is failing. This heritage building must be stabilized to protect these irreplaceable vintage planes. Estimated cost: over $6 million.

Manitoba’s Antique Automobile Museum in Elkhorn has started raising money to repair its roof. The museum houses more than 100 vintage autos (1908 to 1960s). Estimated cost: unknown

Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum has been undergoing roof repair and other major work since 2024. The 175-year-old building (a former Grey Nuns Convent) displays the museum’s extensive collection of Francophone and Métis artifacts. Estimated cost remaining: $1.5 million.

Last summer, I attended a special celebration of Métis heritage at Grant’s Old Mill Museum in Winnipeg. This year, the museum closed permanently for major structural repairs. Estimated cost: $1.1 million.

There are countless more examples of museums in Manitoba that urgently need major structural repairs. As the federal government looks for ways to invest in Canada’s infrastructure, we must look beyond roads, rails, and pipelines. It is time for much-needed federal investment in the museum infrastructure that protects Canadian heritage and adds to the Canadian economy through tourism.