HOURS
The museum is open daily until September 2, 2024 (Labour Day). Fall/winter hours begin September 3. Note: the museum will be closed on Tuesdays until May 17, 2025.
Reminder: FREE Thursday nights from 5 to 8 pm. Nature After 5 is supported by Canada Life.
Visit nature.ca for more information.
SPECIAL EXHIBITION (special exhibition fee in addition to museum admission)
Until October 14, 2024
Experience the world as bugs do! This spectacular and fantastical exhibition features immersive bug chambers, larger-than-life bugs, and interactive surprises around every corner. The amazing superpowers of bugs are revealed —from fast flight to powerful exoskeletons, camouflage, swarms and more. Visitors can also discover how these tiny wonders are inspiring human innovation. Bug Adventure was developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, working with Weta Workshop (the design team involved in Avatar and The Lord of the Rings).
NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION – Free admission
September 30, 2024
General admission is free to mark this occasion that commemorates the history and legacy of the residential school system in Canada.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Annual Open House of the museum’s research and collections facility, 1740 Pink Road, Gatineau
October 5, 10 am – 4 pm
Our hugely popular Open House event is back! Come and see some of our 15 million natural-history treasures—from plants, to animals, to fossils and minerals—at our Natural Heritage Campus in Gatineau, Quebec. Meet some of the museum’s leading science experts, marvel at the collections, and visit labs. This is a free event, but timed tickets are required. Tickets available as of September 27 on nature.ca.
EXHIBITIONS - included with museum admission
LAST CHANCE TO SEE Wolves! Shapeshifters in a Changing World
Ends September 2, 2024
Learn about wolf evolution and adaptations through specimens, cultural stories, video and scientific research that highlights studies by museum experts Kamal Khidas, Ph.D., and Danielle Fraser, Ph.D. Eleven stunning, large images by the renowned wildlife and landscape photographer, Michelle Valberg, feature wolves from the Pacific coast and Yellowstone National Park. Included with museum admission.
Pacific Discovery Tank
Museum interpreter at the tank: Thursday evenings; Saturdays and Sundays 10 am – noon and 1 pm – 4pm; as well as Monday, Sept. 2 . Chat with an interpreter and learn about the creatures that call tidepools home. Encounter live sea stars, sea cucumbers, tentacled anemones and spiky urchins.
MOVIE – included with museum admission
Dino Dana: The Movie
Until September 15, 2024
From multiple Emmy award-winning Sinking Ship Entertainment comes an action-packed dinosaur adventure aimed at kids and their families. Based on the popular TV series, Dino Dana: The Movie follows 10-year-old paleontologist-in-training Dana as she imagines dinosaurs into the real world to solve her dinosaur experiments.
Duration: 25 minutes.
English screenings (regular schedule): Hourly from 10 am to 3 pm, and until 7 pm on Thursdays (subject to change without notice).
French screenings are on the half hour.
NATURE NOCTURNE
Tickets are on sale for Nature Nocturne—Ottawa most memorable night out for adults! Different themes for each event. Tickets are still available for the event on Feb. 14, 2025.
Bugs Alive
Leafcutter ants—busy little farmers that work around the clock—are the star attraction in our renewed and permanent exhibition of live insects and arachnids. Tarantulas, Horrid king assassin bugs, millipedes, cockroaches, and death-feigning beetles are also some of the other fascinating species you can examine up close.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
TICKETS: Advance tickets are recommended, and are for a specified entry time. Book now.
The Canadian Museum of Nature is located at 240 McLeod St, Ottawa. Visit nature.ca. Follow the museum on X (twitter.com/museumofnature) and Instagram (museumofnature), and Like us on Facebook. Tel: 613-566-4700.
