Museum of Toronto will move into a permanent home at 2 Queen Street East, marking a new phase for the institution’s growth and in the city’s evolving cultural landscape.

The Museum is set to open its doors in spring 2027, supported by a $35 million gift from philanthropists Diane Blake and Stephen Smith.

With this gift, Blake and Smith will have contributed in excess of $50 million since 2014, when Museum of Toronto was founded and established as a not-for-profit charitable organization. This gift will support the development of the Museum’s new location and its future programming.

The new location will give Museum of Toronto a permanent home focused on telling the stories of the city through the voices of the people who shape it. Partners on this project include Superkül, a local architecture and design firm retained to design and conceptualize the adaptive reuse of a former Bank of Montreal space, with construction by mform and project management from Avison Young. The space will also showcase Museum of Toronto’s new visual identity by Bruce Mau Design.

“It’s been a privilege to collaborate with the passionate people behind Museum of Toronto to help realize its first purpose-designed space,” said Meg Graham, partner at Superkül. “Our city is defined by its diversity, its topography, and its vitality. From the Museum’s open, street-level galleries to its flexible spaces for immersive programming, the design will reflect those qualities and give artists, storytellers, and curators a dynamic platform to bring Toronto’s histories to life. This will be a museum of and for Toronto, through and through.”

The new building will debut the inaugural permanent city history exhibition, This Toronto of Ours: A City in Six Parts, alongside rotating temporary exhibitions. The first special exhibition, Lights, Camera, T.O.: Toronto on Film, will explore the city’s role in film and production, bringing together stories, voices, and moments that have shaped Toronto’s on-screen identity.

“This is a defining moment for Museum of Toronto,” said Heidi Reitmaier, CEO. “For over a decade, we’ve worked with experts and communities across the city to tell Toronto’s stories in ways that reflect the diversity and complexity of our city. This transformational gift allows us to take the next step, to create a permanent home where our history can be shared, experienced, and questioned. At a time when Toronto is changing rapidly, creating space for connection and a shared sense of belonging is more important than ever.”

Museum of Toronto’s new home will provide a central location for exhibitions, programming, and community engagement. The move will support the Museum’s long-term vision of becoming a globally recognized, inclusive city museum.

Museum of Toronto and the City of Toronto have also recently formalized an alliance to explore future programmatic collaboration and opportunities to partner on projects.