Pier 21 to Become a National Museum

The federal government has declared Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia a national museum and will put about $15 million into its exhibits and operations to help it live up to its new mandate. Pier 21, Canada's Immigration Museum and already a national historic site, is the only surviving immigration pier in Canada and since 1988 has been preserved by the volunteers of the Friends of Pier 21 Society, founded by the late J.P. LeBlanc, a former immigration official.

Between 1928 and 1971 Pier 21 was a landing point for more than a million immigrants arriving by ship in Canada to start a new life. The brick immigration shed on Pier 21 housed customs and immigration and also a nursery, hospital, dormitories, kitchen and dining hall, and rail connection. During World War II, Pier 21 also served a staging role for the Canadian Armed Forces, and was the departure point for more half a million Canadian troops on their way to war.

Pier 21 will be one of six Canadian national museums, and only the second outside the National Capital Region. The others are:

• Canadian Museum for Human Rights - under construction in Winnipeg
• National Gallery of Canada
• Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Canadian Museum of Nature
• Canadian Museum of Science and Technology

Photo: Pier 21 Examination Hall in 1952
Chris Lund / National Film Board / Library and Archives Canada / PA-111579