The Montreal Museum Club is for anyone curious about the city’s past, present, and its people. Whether you’ve lived in Montreal for decades or just arrived, this club offers a chance to discover places and stories you may never have encountered on your own.
Rooted in the Emmaus community but open to all, the club meets once a month on Saturdays and Sundays. RSVP by clicking the button below to help us plan the guided tours. Come curious, as we discover Montreal beyond the familiar corners, and enjoy the company of like-minded people.
Join our WhatsApp group for latest announcements, impromptu outings, and informal chats.
2026 Schedule
May 3 — Jane’s Walk — “Where Montréal Became Separated from the River: From Gare Hochelaga to the Promenade du Courant.”
This walk is organized by a local community and will begin at 1:00 pm. Registration is mandatory to participate. Registration link.
June 7 — Zoo Ecomuseum
The Quebec's only outdoor zoo, showcasing local wildlife like wolves, lynx, owls, and turtles. Each living space is a faithful replication of the animal’s natural environment to ensure their comfort and well-being.
Pack your own lunch!July 5 — Stewart Hall Art Gallery
A 1915 lakeside mansion on Lac Saint-Louis converted into a public art gallery, with rotating contemporary Quebec exhibitions.
We will join the Picnic Vernissage to celebrate the launch of the new exhibition L’art de perruquer / Parallel Play. Pack your own lunch!
August 2 — Biosphère
The geodesic dome (former US pavilion from Expo 67) bridges the gap between Buckminster Fuller’s ecological ideas and today’s environmental challenges. The primary exhibition traces the history of the Biosphere while also offering an introduction to current exhibitions and the connections between art, society, and the environment. The Biosphère also offers a stunning 360-degree view of the city.
September 13 — McCord Stewart Museum
Rescheduled from September 6
To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, the McCord Stewart Museum presents an unprecedented retrospective on this global event. Featuring a rich collection of documents and objects—including archives, artefacts, editorial cartoons, uniforms, posters, and photographs—the exhibition explores the many facets of the Games, with a special focus on their aesthetic and design elements.
October 4 — Château Ramezay
A 1705 governor's residence, likely Montreal's oldest private historic museum, also briefly housed American revolutionary forces in 1775. Today, the museum's collection is composed mainly of gifts from private Montrealers and is estimated at 30,000 objects, including manuscripts, printed works, numismatic items, ethnological items, works of art, paintings, prints and furniture.
November 1 — Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)
CCA is both a museum and a research institution, with deeply researched architecture exhibitions in a stunning building. Through its exhibitions, publications and activities the CCA explores how architecture shapes – and might reshape – contemporary society.
Together, we will go on a guided tour of the exhibition The fortune of the city is that it has never been perfect.
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December 5 — MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises
An urban history museum focused on Montreal's social fabric — immigrant communities, dépanneur culture, neighbourhood life, told through interviews, short films, and an immersive 180-degree screen.
2027 schedule
January 10 – Château Dufresne
When standing next to the low-rises of Hochelaga and the iconic Olympic Stadium, the Château Dufresne visibly stands out. It stood out even more when it was first built over 100 years ago as a residence of the first occupants, Oscar and Marius Dufresne, two prominent middle-class figures in the early 20th century in Montreal.
The historical importance of this heritage site extends far beyond the significance it had during the time of the Dufresne family. With the many cultural events that took place there, the Château Dufresne became a cultural focal point for the Quiet Revolution, as well as a museum that brought Québec into the modern era. Attend the tour to learn all about the building’s role in Montreal’s history and explore the living quarters of the people who built something that has outlasted them.
February 6 – Greenhouses at the Botanical Garden
There are many pleasurable pastimes to indulge in on a winter day, and going to a greenhouse is one of them. Escape the Montreal’s cold by taking a colourful journey around the globe featuring succulents, orchids, penjings, banana trees, and more.
The guided tour will take us permanent and thematic exhibitions of the greenhouses showcasing the Botanical Garden’s collections. Each greenhouse has a special theme, illustrating the many ways that plants adapt to their environment.
Cette visite guidée est offerte uniquement en français // This guided tour is only offered in French.
March 6 – Musée des ondes Emile Berliner
We take for granted the availability of media in digital format, be it songs, movies, or a radio channel broadcasted through an app. It wasn’t always this way, and the best way to learn about the history of sound is by visiting the fabulous Musée des ondes Emile Berliner. The guided tour will tell all about the history of the recording, reproduction and broadcasting of sound and electromagnetic waves. It will also highlight the role of inventor Emile Berliner and his descendants, as well as the role of Montreal companies associated with the technological and cultural revolution of the 20th century.
April 3 – Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum
Marguerite Bourgeoys was a woman of action. She founded the Ville-Marie’s first permanent church, recruited teachers in France for the colony, cared for the King’s Daughters after they arrived from France, and founded vocational schools. There was probably more that she’s done, but her autobiography did not survive until the modern days.
It wasn’t only Marguerite’s autobiography that didn’t survive the passage of time, as the 300-year-old chapel built through the her initiative of Marguerite burned down in 1754. The chapel was nevertheless rebuilt and has been standing in Montreal’s Old Port since then. Sailors have traditionally come there to offer gratitude to the Virgin Mary for safe sea voyages, the statue of which was referred to in one of Leonard Cohen’s songs as “Our Lady of the Harbor”.
Come to learn about the Marguerite Bourgeoys, the early settlers who built Montreal, and see the Old Port from a unique vantage point of the Chapel’s tower.
May 1 – Museum of Jewish Montreal (walking tour)
Discover the schools, synagogues, hospitals, and cultural organizations around St-Laurent Boulevard that continue to leave their mark on Montreal society today.
The epicentre of Jewish life in Montreal from the turn of the 20th century until the 1950s, today’s Plateau neighbourhood once teemed with tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Learn how they worked, worshipped, and supported one another as they built new lives in Montreal.
Our visit will uncover the synagogues, schools, hospitals, and cultural organizations they established and that still leave a mark on Montreal society today. Immerse yourself in the Jewish stories held in the streets and buildings of this vibrant neighbourhood.
June 5 – The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site
Fur trade was the primary driver of the economy of New France – a cradle of modern Canada. At its peak, 100,000 beaver pelts were sold annually, with revenue corresponding to $100 million per year in modern purchasing currency, an unimaginable wealth at the time. The point blankets served as a form of currency exchanged with First Nations for beaver pelts. Those blankets are still available today at Hudson’s Bay points of sale in Canadian Tire stores. They are the last remnants of the powerful fur trade empire, and serve as a reminder that nothing is eternal.
Attend this outing to experience the adventure of the fur trade! This grand epic awaits you at the very place where the journey to Western Canada began. In an authentic stone warehouse, built in 1803 and located on the banks of the Lachine Canal, discover the perilous canoe expedition of French Canadian voyageurs, Indigenous trappers, and European merchants. Come to touch, observe, and feel the authentic skins and furs, the bundles, a wooden bark canoe, and more.
July 3 – Montreal Aviation Museum
If you like planes, there is nowhere to go but to the Montreal Aviation Museum – the only museum of its kind in Quebec that preserves the civil and military aviation heritage of Quebec and the rest of Canada. It honours men and women who, through their aircraft and events, positioned aviation as a key contributor to Quebec’s socioeconomic development. Come to learn about their stories and see a world-class display of aviation art.
August 7 – Exporail Museum
Quebec is experiencing a railway renaissance. With the 67 km of the new Réseau express métropolitain, tramway project in Quebec-city, ALTO high speed train, and construction of new VIA Rail train cars in Montreal, the rail boom will leave a lasting impact for generations to come. Now is the time to learn how railways have shaped Canada, Quebec, and the city of Montreal.
Rail, the Power of Connection exposition comes back to history to underline the way our predecessors imagined the future, that is to say, our current times. Come to learn about the direct and sometimes surprising links between the daily life of the 21st century and the visionaries from the 19th and 20th centuries.
September 4 – St. Joseph’s Oratory
St. Joseph’s Oratory is the culmination of a dream of Saint André of Montreal, the only canonized Canadian saint who lived after Confederation. The Oratory is the highest building in Montreal, with one of the largest and tallest domes in the world. It attracts 2 million visitors a year, and this month it will attract members of the Montreal Museum Club. Together, we will discover the historic, artistic and religious heritage of Quebec stored at the Oratory, story of brother André, and admire the panoramic view of Montreal as well as the tranquil Garden of the Way of the Cross.
October 3 – Écomusée du fier monde
À cœur de jour! Grandeurs et misères d’un quartier populaire brosse le portrait du Centre-Sud de Montréal dès la seconde moitié du 19e siècle, en retraçant son évolution à travers les moments charnières de l’industrialisation, de la désindustrialisation et de la mouvance communautaire. Soyez témoin des impacts de l’industrie et des transformations urbaines sur le travail et les conditions de vie dans un quartier ouvrier, et explorez les réalités actuelles d’un territoire et de sa population.
Cette visite guidée est offerte uniquement en français // This guided tour is only offered in French.
November 7 – Montreal Holocaust Museum
This visit is pending on the reopening of the museum in a new location.
The brand new building of the Montreal Holocaust Museum is bigger and better, but the Museum itself seeks to accomplish the same mission as ever before – to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the Holocaust, while sensitizing the public to the perils of antisemitism, racism, hate and indifference. The new location, using natural light, seeks to highlight the dark past, but also to illuminate a hopeful future. Their History of the Holocaust Told by Survivors permanent exhibition features artifacts donated by Holocaust survivors living in Montreal, home to the third-largest Holocaust survivor population in the world.
December 5 – Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)
The annual program of the Montreal Museum Club finishes on a high note. There is much to explore in the MMFA’s collection that showcases Quebec and Canadian heritage, Indigenous art and international art. It comprises close to 47,000 paintings, sculptures, graphic artworks, photographs, multimedia installations and decorative art objects dating from antiquity to the present.
Information about the exhibition will be provided closer to the date.