Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature (French: Musée canadien de la nature; CMN) is a national natural history museum based in Canada's National Capital Region. The museum's exhibitions and public programs are housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a 18,910-square-metre structure (203,500 sq ft) in Ottawa, Ontario. The museum's administrative offices and scientific centres are housed at a separate location, the Natural Heritage Campus, in Gatineau, Quebec.

The museum originated from a museum established by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1856. Initially based in Montreal, the museum relocated to downtown Ottawa in 1881. In 1911, the museum relocated to the Victoria Memorial Museum Building. Initially, a natural history museum, the institution later expanded to include an anthropology and human history department; with the institution renamed the National Museum of Canada in 1927. The departments of the national museum were later split into separate national institutions, with the natural history department forming the National Museum of Natural Sciences in 1968. The museum adopted its current name in 1990 after it was made its own autonomous crown corporation. From 2004 to 2010, the museum renovated and expanded the Victoria Memorial Museum Building.

The museum's collection contains over 14.6 million specimens of the natural world, several of which are displayed in its permanent exhibitions. The museum also hosts and organizes several travelling exhibitions and supports and conducts several research programs relating to natural history.

The Canadian Museum of Nature originates from the collecting efforts of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), an organization established in 1842 in Montreal. In 1856 the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada passed an act that enabled the GSC to establish a museum to exhibit items found from its geological and archaeological field trips; with the museum initially established in Montreal. In 1877, the museum mandate was formally expanded to include the study of modern fauna and flora, in addition to human history, languages, and traditions.

In 1881, the museum relocated from Montreal to downtown Ottawa; although space in the new facility soon proved to be inadequate, with the Royal Society of Canada petitioning the federal government to build a new building for the museum by 1896. Preliminary plans for a new building were drawn up by 1899, although work on the building did not begin until 1906. In the following year, management of the museum was assumed by the Department of Mines, with the mandate formally expanded to include anthropological studies. The new museum building, the Victoria Memorial building, was also completed in 1910, although it was not opened to the public until 1912. In 1927, the museum division of the Department of Mines was renamed the National Museum of Canada; with the museum formally split from the GSC.

Management of the National Museum was transferred from the Department of Mines to the Department of Resources and Development in 1950. In 1956, the museum was split into two branches, one focused on natural history and another on anthropology. The mandate of the museum was later expanded when the National Museum of Canada assumed management of the Canadian War Museum in 1958. A history division was established within the museum's anthropology branch in 1964.

In 1968, the branches of the National Museum of Canada were split into separate museums. The Canadian Museum of Nature originated from the natural history branch of the museum, initially incorporated as the National Museum of Natural Sciences. The anthropological and human history branch of the former National Museum of Canada became the National Museum of Man (later renamed the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1988, and the Canadian Museum of History in 2013), while the science and technology branch became the National Museum of Science and Technology (later renamed the Canada Science and Technology Museum). In the same year, the National Museums of Canada Corporation (NMC) was formed to serve as an umbrella organization for the national museums, as well as provide support and administrative units for the museums. The National Museum of Natural Sciences formed a part of the NMC until the organization was dissolved in 1988.

In 1990, the government of Canada passed the Museums Act, which led to the National Museum of Natural Sciences and several national museums being incorporated as autonomous crown corporations. The same act also renamed the National Museum of Natural Sciences into the Canadian Museum of Nature. By 1990, the museum was the only remaining occupant of the Victoria Memorial building. In 1997, the museum opened a new research and collections facility in Gatineau, Quebec, consolidating its research facilities and collections holdings in one building.