VISITORS ENTER through an unobtrusive glass door in an almost windowless façade of gray limestone that fronts this large U-shaped building. Well-lit exhibition rooms house a series of regular exhibits in rotation.

THE OLDEST AND LARGEST art collection in Quebec is housed in two dramatically different buildings that face each other across Rue Sherbrooke. The Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, fronted with four white marble pillars, faces the huge concrete arch and tilting glass front of the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion.

LAWYER DAVID Ross McCord (1844–1930) was an avid collector of virtually everything that had to do with life in Canada, including books, photographs, jewellery, furniture, clothing, documents, papers, paintings, toys, and porcelain.

OPENED IN 1964, THE MUSEUM of Contemporary Art is the only institution in Canada dedicated exclusively to modern art. Located in downtown Montreal, more than 60 percent of the approximately 6,000 paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, and installations in the permanent collection are by Quebec artists. Works date from 1939, but the emphasis is on the [...]

THIS COMPLEX of halls and theatres is Montreal’s prime center for the performing arts. Both the Opéra de Montréal (Montreal Opera) and the Orchéstre Symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra) make their home in the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, the largest of the center’s five halls.

THIS MUSEUM is housed in a handsome, red-brick fire station, which has a gracefully gabled roof built in 1903. The exhibits trace the history of Montreal from the first Indian settlements to the modern age, with the focus on everyday life.

THIS MUSEUM, housed in an old stone warehouse belonging to an ancient order of nuns, has an extensive collection of Fortin’s work, and it also mounts exhibitions of new painting by local artists.

THESE TWO SMALL islands are not Canadian but French, and have been under Gallic rule since 1783. Saint-Pierre, the only town on the island of the same name, is a charming French seaside village, complete with gendarmes, bicycles, and fine French bakeries where people line up every morning for fresh baguettes.

Western Canada’s largest museum highlights many aspects of western life through paintings and cultural artifacts collected over many years.

The earth’s geological history and the origin of life are the predominant topics of this world-famous museum.