Making History Now

We’re building a bold, new museum experience—one that brings New Brunswick’s stories to life in powerful, inspiring ways.

The New Brunswick Museum is entering an exciting new chapter.

— We’re building an iconic cultural destination that brings our human and natural history to life in a world-class museum experience.

— With modern classrooms, public spaces, and research labs, it will inspire learning.

— Designed for the future, the new museum will meet the highest accessibility standards and be a welcoming, sustainable museum - built for generations to come.

— This is not just a building—it’s a working, evolving institution. Through research, education, and collaboration, the museum will continue to uncover new stories, share diverse voices, and protect our province’s irreplaceable natural and cultural legacy.

The Project

About Making History Now

inside-the-new-brunswick-museum.png
new-brunswick-museum-new.png
new-brunswick-museum-roof-top-terris.png
education-making-history-now.png

Making History Now is a multi-year project shaping every step of the museum’s transformation—from early planning and fundraising to construction and community impact. Once open, visitors will explore state-of-the-art exhibitions, access hands-on labs and archives, and enjoy spaces designed to welcome everyone. Whether you’re taking in the view from the rooftop café or discovering something new in the galleries, there will be something for everyone to experience.

This is a once-in-a-generation project — shaping the next chapter in Canada’s oldest continuing museum.

  • Rooftop Café

  • Archives

  • Research Laboratories

  • Public Spaces

Latest Updates

We’re not open just yet—but big things are in motion. Stay tuned for updates as we bring this vision to life.

FAQ

  • The Museum’s displays, programs, collections and staff were split among the Exhibitions Centre in Market Square, the Collections and Research Centre on Douglas Avenue, and three off-site collection facilities.

    The Making History Now Project will reunite these aspects of the museum in a striking, thoughtful, and efficient development on Douglas Avenue including the refurbished heritage collections building.

    This project will provide the New Brunswick Museum with a new home, where the collections can be preserved safely and the exhibitions and programs enjoyed by visitors for years to come.

  • The museum will be located at its original site on Douglas Avenue. The location beside Riverview Memorial Park and overlooking Marble Cove is also easily connected to Uptown Saint John by Harbour Passage. It is also close to many significant historic cultural and natural landmarks.

    This site beautifully captures sightlines onto the Saint John (Wolastoq) River to the west as well as Saint John Harbour and the Bay of Fundy to the east.

  • The collection is being moved to the Museum’s location on Lancaster Avenue which will ensure that it remains accessible for research and study during the intervening period while the new permanent exhibition and collection centre is being completed. Artifacts are well protected in a secure, climate-controlled environment.

  • The new-build will be a world-class landmark for our province. It will attract and engage New Brunswickers, visitors, researchers and educators from around the globe for years to come. The New Brunswick Museum provides a vital role in documenting and conserving New Brunswick’s rich history. This helps New Brunswick communities tell their own stories and showcase over 13,000 years of human history and 1 billion years of natural history represented collectively as time-immemorial in our province.

  • Yes, the Making History Now Project involves discussion with Indigenous leaders, experts and communities in all stages of the project. This includes engagement through a continuous and respectful open dialogue to create a culturally meaningful and inclusive facility. These discussions are ongoing and it is the goal of the Board of New Brunswick Museum that they will continue to grow long after the facilities are constructed. This will ensure that New Brunswick’s provincial museum represents the stories and long cultural traditions of first peoples of the land known today as New Brunswick.

Be a Part of New Brunswick’s Story

Let’s Talk

We want your perspective on - share your feedback to shape the New Brunswick Museum.

We respectfully acknowledge the territory in which we gather as the ancestral homelands of the Wolastoqey, Mi’gmaw, and Peskotomuhkati peoples. We strive for respectful relationships with all the peoples of this province as we search for collective healing and true reconciliation and honour this beautiful land together.