Founded in 1860, one of the first museums in North America to amass an encyclopedic collection worthy of the name, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has, over its existence, has built up a collection of over 33,000 objects - painting, sculpture, works on paper, prints and drawings, photographs and decorative art objects - from Antiquity to today.

Year after year, the Museum continues to acquire new works to enrich its collections of Ancient Cultures, European Art, Canadian Art, Inuit and Amerindian Art, Contemporary Art and Decorative Arts.

In order to make our cultural heritage accessible to the greatest number of people, the Museum has adopted a policy of free admission to its galleries displaying works from the collections.

Founded in 1921 by David Ross McCord, The McCord Museum is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history.

Grounded in its collections and the study of material culture, and building on the national vision of its founder, the McCord Museum pursues excellence in research, collections, exhibitions, and education, using traditional media and innovative technologies and approaches, to speak to contemporary preoccupations and to inspire historical enquiry.

To make this heritage accessible to all, the Museum offers exhibitions, cultural activities, guided tours, school tours and publications. Exhibitions are accompanied by an original and interactive animation approach; visiting the McCord means taking a new look at history.

The Museum was founded as part of celebrations to mark Montréal's 350th birthday, and owes its existence largely to the significant archaeological discoveries made on the site during the 1980s. In fact, the Museum and its site are inextricably linked. Rising above evidence of more than 1,000 years of human activity, it houses remarkable architectural remains, displayed in situ with absolute respect for their integrity. Pointe-à-Callière is the only sizeable archaeology museum in  Canada .

The hundreds of artifacts it houses are grouped into six main sections: the Éperon, a modern building that has won many architectural awards; the archaeological crypt on the lower level; the renovated Ancienne-Douane building (Montréal's first Custom House), the Youville Pumping Station, the Archaeological Field School and the Mariners House. The museum of a site, a history and a city, Pointe-à-Callière delves into the past to foster a debate on urban issues both local and global, and to encourage visitors to reflect on the future.

In July 1955, David Macdonald Stewart opened the museum in the wooden blockhouse at the heart of St. Helen's Island . A small collection of objects relating to the war leading to the English Conquest of 1760, was presented in this building, witness to the military past of the Island of Montreal . Naturally, it bore the name of "The Montreal Military Museum."

By the end of the 1950s, during the summer, the Museum exhibited a part of its collections in the barracks and in the small powder magazine of the military complex of the Island . In 1963, while launching his military demonstration program, La Compagnie Franche de la Marine , the historical exhibit was installed in the Fort. Ten years after opening, the museum welcomed the collections of the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) of Montreal , along with those of the dissolved Victoria Rifles of Canada. The Olde 78th Fraser Highlanders were added to the military program in 1965. At this time, exhibition galleries were housed in the Fort. The maritime collections being added, the Museum was incorporated on 4 May 1965 , under the name of the "Military and Maritime Museum of Montreal."

The Museum was present at the 1967 World's Fair through the participation of La Compagnie Franche de la Marine and The Olde 78th Fraser Highlanders . The museum was also associated with the reconstruction of The Grande Hermine , one of the ships of Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of Canada .

By 1971, the Museum occupied the entire Fort. The collections became diversified. Domestic objects, scientific instruments, old maps, etc. completed the military and maritime collections of the Museum. In 1974, thanks to the financial assistance of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation, the Museum employed professionals on a full-time basis. For the first time, it was open to the public during the entire year. By the end of the 70s, the museum was known by the name of "The Museum at St. Helen's Island ." In 1984, the Museum supervised the installation of the museum at the " Manoir de Limoelou " in St. Malo , France , birthplace of Jacques Cartier.

Finally, in 1985, at the same time that it launched its first full-scale, temporary exhibition, "The Discovery of the New World: Mapmakers and Cosmographers," the Museum was christened the David M. Stewart Museum , in memory of its founder and principal benefactor, deceased the previous year. Since this time, the Museum has been presided over by Mrs. Liliane M. Stewart who, with a professional staff and its collaborators, endeavours to offer diverse and lively programming, services adapted to its varied clientele and products with state-of-the-art museum technology.

The CCA is an international research centre and museum founded on the conviction that architecture is a public concern. Based on its extensive collections, the CCA is a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought and debate on the art of architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.

Over 30 years ago, architect Phyllis Lambert began the collection that would become the cornerstone of the CCA. In addition to being founding director of the institution, Phyllis Lambert is Chair of its Board of Trustees

Today the CCA Collection, comprising works dating from the Renaissance to the present day, documents the culture of architecture throughout the world ? past, present, and future. It provides evidence in depth of cultural and intellectual circles of the past, points to the future of architectural thinking and practice, and reveals the changing character of thought and observation pertaining to architecture. Unparalleled in scope, the Prints & Drawings , Photographs , Archives , and Library comprise of dynamically interrelated bodies of primary and secondary materials that advance thinking about the nature of the built domain and the ideas that underlie it.

Exhibitions and Public and Educational Programs forge links between architectural thinking and practice, the history of ideas, and changing social and cultural conditions. Programs are both local and international in scope. They interpret architectural ideas to the wider public at all age-levels as well as to architects and scholars, aiming to reveal the richness of architectural and urban culture and to stimulate dynamic engagement with contemporary issues and debates. The CCA Bookstore specializes in the literature of architecture and an extensive range of interrelated topics, offering a selection of publications from around the world.

The Study Centre was inaugurated in 1997 as an international institute devoted to research in all aspects of architectural thought and practice. Through its Visiting Scholars Program, seminars, and colloquia, the Study Centre supports individual research efforts and advances broad new lines of discourse and investigation. Linking advanced research with public engagement in architecture, the CCA encourages scholars to pursue projects in the spirit of a broadly connective inquiry that cuts across time, space, and media.