• Museum Unveils a “Super Important Resource”
    Explore the timeline at timeline.pier21.ca Attention history nerds: Clear your next several hours. There are thousands of years of history to learn about on the Museum’s new digital timeline ! The timeline is full of information about the histories of peoples in the lands we now know as Canada, and …
  • A Welcome Sign?
    Cartoon published July 1, 1999. (Material republished with the express permission of: PNI Maritimes LP, by its general partner, PNI Maritimes GP Inc.) At the end of this month, 2024 will be over. This has been a milestone year for the Museum. 2024 marked 25 years since Pier 21 reopened to the …
  • Indigenous artists invite visitors to look at this map of Canada in a new way
    Welcome to Turtle Island , a new artistic installation by Melinda Robertson and Shannon Monk, has been installed on the glass map of Canada in the Museum’s Canadian Immigration Story exhibition.   Melinda Robertson and Shannon Monk got excited when they saw the Museum’s glass map of Canada, with …
  • A pivotal moment for Canada’s refugee policy
    A secret war, 100,000 refugees and the creation of the Private Refugee Sponsorship program A family of new Canadians celebrates Canada Day. Photo Credit: Charlie Lim (HOF024). Between 1975 and 1985, over 100,000 Southeast Asian refugees from three countries came to Canada in the wake of the Vietnam …
  • New school, new country, new challenges
    Imagine going to a school in a new country where you don’t speak the language. Where the teaching methods and curriculum are different. Where you don’t know anybody. The Museum’s collection features lots of stories of people starting school in Canada. Some are funny, some are sad, and all show the …
  • Newcomer Uncovers Deep Roots in Canada.
    An interview with Linda Granfield, who, 49 years ago, arrived in Canada with two pots, two towels, and some books. She would go on to write numerous books about this country’s history, including a book on Pier 21 and a book about the British war brides who arrived here. Linda Granfield is the …
  • No Chop Suey in China - and other food stories
    Season 4 of our podcast Countless Journeys is all about food and the people who make it. Ann Hui tells her story in season four, episode 1 of Countless Journeys. Photo courtesy of Ann Hui. It was only when she visited Chinese restaurants in small towns that Ann Hui discovered dishes like chop suey, …
  • Art and Artifact
    How a vivid dream and a nearly forgotten history led to a new exhibition Chinese Head Tax Certificate issued to Lee Wing, 1916. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 collection, [R2021.48.6] Artist JJ Lee thought of herself as a second-generation Canadian, her parents having been born in China. …
  • Immigrating with everything - including the kitchen sink.
    In the Museum’s Pier 21 Story exhibition , there is a section called Treasures From Home , with artifacts and props representing what immigrants brought with them as they sailed to Canada. The objects are contained in a large wooden case and include many different objects: a bicycle, a pair of …
  • The tiny Lebanese village that changed the face of Halifax
    Left: The mountain village of Diman and surrounding villages (photo courtesy of Jasmine Ghosn); right: The 161 unit Brenton Suites building, backgrounded by the 84 unit Trillium building, both projects led by Diman-born developer Wadih Fares. In the north of Lebanon, 1,400 metres above sea level, …