Every country has its quirky museums, and Canada is no exception. It was fun to research and pick these fun, funky and quirky museums from across Canada. This is only a small sample of some of the 100s of quirky museums you can find in Canada doing a Google search. Surprisingly, what you won’t find (or I didn’t) is a casino or gambling museum, however, you will find 100s of online poker sites in Canada.

I hope you will enjoy reading about a few of the ones I did find.

Oil Museum of Canada, Oil Springs, Ontario

You would think that Canada’s oil museum would be in Calgary or at least Alberta but no it is in Ontario. It is on the site where James Miller Williams dug the first commercial oil well on the continent in 1858. James Miller Williams the father of the petroleum industry in Canada, established the first commercially successful oil well in 1858 and igniting the first oil boom in North America.

The Oil Museum of Canada is located on land that was designated as the First Commercial Oil Field National Historic Site of Canada in 1925. The museum itself was opened to the public in July 1960. You can explore the gallery, the interactive international driller's tent, historic buildings, and discover the oldest operating oil field in the world, next door at Fairbank Oil Fields. Yes, you can see actual small pumpjacks toiling away. Locals may refer to them as a “donkey pumper, nodding donkey, pumping unit, horsehead pump, rocking horse, beam pump, dinosaur, sucker rod pump, grasshopper pump, or jack pump.”

Heritage Models Museum, River Herbert, Nova Scotia

Nestled within the heart of River Hebert, Nova Scotia, “Heritage Models: is a unique walk back in time. History comes alive in the 1/12 scale models, accurately crafted to recreate local historical sites and landmarks. All were crafted by the late Reginald 'Bud' Johnston who originally displayed his models on his front lawn before moving to the museum in in 1993.

Each miniature tells a captivating story of the area's industrial past. From iconic community buildings no longer standing to local landscapes.

Gopher Hole Museum, Torrington AB

Gopher, or prairie dog as there are commonly called are actually Richardson ground squirrels. This museum is in Torrington, Alberta on Highway 27 just 15 minutes east of the QEW II highway, about an hour’s drive north of Calgary.

Dianne Kurta, the museum’s curator since it first opened in 1996, greeted us. She seems as proud and enthusiastic today as if the museum had just opened. After a hearty welcome, you are free to explore the single exhibition room that houses the 47 dioramas with 77 mounted gophers. They look like old box televisions, with the innards replaced by miniature scenes from early 20th century rural life in a small Alberta town, the “twist” being the humans are represented by (real!) stuffed gophers.

The result is hilarious; there is a clever tongue-in-cheek sensibility to each of the scenes. And Yes, I have been to this museum.

Potato Museum, O’Leary, Prince Edward Island.

While Prince Edward Island is Canada’s smallest province it is home to the world’s largest exhibit of potato-related farm machinery, agricultural and community artifacts – The Canadian Potato Museum and PEI Potato Kitchen. PEI is often referred to as "Spud Island" due to its significant potato production, with the industry contributing over $1.3 billion annually to the island's economy and supporting over 5,000 jobs.

The rich, red soil and clear air of Prince Edward Island – are the perfect recipe for growing potatoes. PEI Potatoes come in white, red, yellow, and blue and are recognized around the world for their unique taste.

Prince Edward Island has long prided itself as being the producer of some of the world’s best-tasting potatoes, so it’s a natural location for the Canadian Potato Museum to put down roots. Ironically, Alberta is Canada’s largest potato producing province, PEI is second.

Don’t forget to get your picture taken with the world’s largest potato sculpture!

Canadian Canoe Museum, Peterborough, Ontario

The Canadian Canoe Museum's exhibits document how the canoe defines the Canadian character and spirit. The museum features a dramatic waterfall, and a traditional Mi'kmaq wigwam where visitors can hear creation stories. Visitors can try their hand at building a birch bark canoe in the Preserving Skills Gallery, plan a prospecting expedition like in the gold rush days, feel what it was like to be a voyageur during the fur trade era, and enjoy the cottaging lifestyles of the early 20th century.

Maple Syrup Museum, Hillsburgh, Ontario

Though small, this museum provides an immersive history of the maple syrup industry, ranging from interpretations of possible early indigenous production methods to the development of the sugar maple industry in Ontario and surrounding regions.

The exhibits give you a sense of what it was like in the old days, back when people had to drive a team of horses across the snow-covered ground in March and April to collect buckets of tree sap and transform it into a tasty treat. You’ll find saws, syrup evaporators, barrels, sap buckets, spiles (the little tubes hammered into the tree to drain the sap), pancake griddles, maple candy molds, and various maple-related photos housed within the space. A wide variety of the ubiquitous maple syrup bottles found on every store shelf within 100 miles of St. Jacobs is also displayed all over the museum, ranging from 50-year-old bottles to those still sold today.

Of particular interest is the cross-section of an ancient maple that bears the scars of numerous syrup tapings over its lifetime. Visitors can see the spots where the spiles had been tapped into the tree trunk on no less than 25 occasions and the associated scars from where these punctures healed as the tree continued to grow.

In October 2023, the Maple Syrup Museum of Ontario moved from the Village of St. Jacobs to the Elliott Tree Farm in Hillsburgh.

Accordion Museum, Montmagny, Quebec

The accordion is believed to have originated in Berlin in 1822, with Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann credited for the invention of its basic form, though an older instrument may exist. However, Cyrill Demian of Vienna patented an instrument called "accordion" in 1829, thus coining the name.

Since 1992, the Accordion Museum has been a cultural institution guiding visitors in the discovery of this visually unique instrument. Boasting a collection of nearly 150 accordions and other related instruments, the museum showcases this cultural and musical heritage through a permanent exhibition launched in 2021, which the museum team chose to enhance by integrating a digital solution.

“The Many Sounds of the Accordion!” exhibition looks at the various cultures and musicians who have made the instrument their own. Learn why the accordion has come to be associated with such a wide range of musical styles.

A second exhibition, “Totally Traditional!” how instruments were made, who made them, and the important role they played at dances and in family life. The museum invites you to discover a musical culture deeply rooted in Quebec’s traditional heritage.

Sign Post Forest, Watson Lake, Yukon

A miniature maze maintained by the town, the forest has almost 100,000 signs tacked on to towering signposts, listing locations around the world alongside their distances from the Yukon. The forest started “growing” in 1942 when a homesick American soldier erected an homage to his own hometown in Illinois.

Private Carl Lindley, of Company D, 341st Army of Engineers, was injured while working on the Alaska Highway near Lower Post, B.C. He was taken to recover at an aid station in what is now Watson Lake, a few miles over the border into the Yukon. While there, Lindley was given light work duty repairing and repainting directional posts. Of his own accord, he added one for Danville, Illinois, where he was from.

The original sign, located at Mile 635 on the Alaska Highway, is no longer there. It was replaced during a 1992 party celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the forest, which had grown exponentially by then.

Last Word

I hope you have enjoyed reading about these small, quirky Canadian museums. If you have a favourite, you’d like to share I’d love to hear about them.

Eight Fun and Quirky Canadian Museums