The Pier is a great museum for the entire family to visit while in Toronto and its waterfront location can’t be beat. This unique attraction is housed in a 1930’s shipping warehouse right next to Toronto’s famous Harbourfront. A relatively new museum, the Pier opened in July of 1998 and is dedicated to the preservation of the history of Toronto Bay through interactive exhibits as well as live demonstrations of traditional boat-making. Visitors can also rent handmade boats or sign up for classes in wooden boat building.

The pier is fun for the kids too, as they can visit the newly expanded Discovery Zone, where children and adults are welcome to play together while exploring the technology and history of Toronto harbor. Here children have an opportunity to dress up and pretend to be pirates or sailors and to learn through playing with nautical puzzles, crafts and games. There are even bumper-boat style steamships.

A daily Discovery Trail program where families can uncover hidden treasures in the museum is also quite popular. Hand in the activity sheet to receive your own piece of the treasure.

Spend time discovering ancient trade routes around Lake Ontario and learning about the last ice age in Toronto. Tragedies such as the destruction of the S.S. Noronic, the finest Great Lakes passenger ship of its day, are detailed as well as happier memories. Look back to a time when Hanlan’s Point, part of Toronto Islands, was known as Canada’s Coney Island and was the location of an amusement park from the turn of the century until the Depression.