Ontario Science Centre

About

The Ontario Science Centre, originally the Centennial Centre of Science and Technology, is a science museum and educational organization temporarily located at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The original site, located near the Don Valley Parkway on Don Mills Road in the former city of North York, is about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) northeast of downtown Toronto. Built into the side of a ravine formed by a branch of the Don River, the museum consisted of a series of buildings constructed at different levels on a steep hill and connected by escalators. Large windows provided views of the surrounding forest and river. It was closed by the Government of Ontario in June 2024 after an engineering report identified a high risk of roof collapse. The closure and relocation plans drew public opposition.

In 2023, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a government plan to relocate the Ontario Science Centre to a new, smaller building at Ontario Place on the Toronto waterfront.

The Ontario Science Centre opened KidSpark at Harbourfront Centre in 2024. Harbourfront Centre serves as its interim home—with an expansion planned for Summer 2026—offering interactive exhibits until the Ontario Place site is ready. Premier Doug Ford has announced in May 2026 that they have broken ground on the new site and are committed to opening in 2029.

Planning for the Science Centre began in 1961 during Toronto's expansion in the late 1950s and 1960s. In August 1964, Ontario Premier John Robarts announced the creation of the Centennial Centre of Science and Technology as a Centennial Project. Toronto architect Raymond Moriyama was hired to design the site.

Construction started in 1966 with plans to open the Centennial Centre of Science and Technology as part of the Canadian Centennial celebrations in 1967.

However, construction was not completed by 1967, and the Science Centre did not open to the public until two years later, on September 26, 1969.

The official opening was held on the morning of September 27 and attended by a small group of guests, followed by an opening to a larger group of 30,000 guests in the early afternoon. It then opened to the general public on September 28, drawing 9,000 visitors. Its advertising slogan at launch was "Come see what would happen if Albert Einstein and Walt Disney had gotten together."

Upon opening in 1969, the Science Centre claimed to have adopted a hands-on approach to science, aligning with the interactive educational philosophy seen at institutions such as San Francisco's Exploratorium (1969) and the Michigan Science Center (1970) in Detroit.

The original exhibits included a simulation of the LEM landing on the Moon, a tic-tac-toe game played against a computer, and a simulated hot cell. The museum also had an outreach program which included touring vans that visited schools around the province.

The majority of the exhibits at the Science Centre were interactive, while others were live demonstrations such as metalworking. The communications room contained many computerized displays, including a tic-tac-toe game, run on a PDP-11 minicomputer. By 1974, the OSC hosted around 250,000 students on field trips annually.

In 1990, the Ontario Science Centre announced a contract with Oman to design a children's museum. At the time, the Centre had agreed to boycott Israeli goods and services while under contract. The agreement was later amended to specify that all goods sold to Oman would be produced in North America. The Centre's director-general, Mark Abbott, was subsequently dismissed for signing the original contract.

In 1996, a redesigned entryway was opened, which contained an Omnimax theatre. Beginning in 2001, a redesign funded by a mix of public and private capital began. It was completed in 2007.

Beginning in 2001, the Science Centre launched a major renewal initiative known as Agents of Change, to modernize its facilities and programming. The project renovated approximately 85 percent of the Centre's public space and created seven new experience areas. Funding for the initiative totaled $47.5 million and included contributions from the Government of Ontario, private-sector companies, and individual donors.

The Agents of Change transformation was completed in 2007, marked by the opening of the Weston Family Innovation Centre and the TELUSCAPE plaza.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Science Centre received $500,000 from the Government of Canada to support efforts promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children and their families.

Facility decay, replacement plans, and closure

From 2023 until the Don Mills site's closure, a shuttle bus ran from the Science Centre's entrance to the main exhibit area on the museum's Level 6, due to structural decay in the pedestrian bridge that led to the exhibit area, located at the bottom of the Don River ravine.

On April 18, 2023, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the provincial government's plan to relocate the Science Centre to a new facility on the grounds of Ontario Place on the Toronto waterfront. This announcement drew public criticism due to concerns about potential downsizing and exhibit losses. Both the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and the Toronto Society of Architects condemned the relocation plans, while the grassroots group Save Ontario's Science Centre organized rallies and campaigns to oppose the government's decision. Toronto City Council also sought to keep the Science Centre at its original location.

In December 2023, the Auditor General of Ontario concluded that the government's decision "was not fully informed and based on preliminary and incomplete costing information, and had proceeded without full consultation from key stakeholders or a clear plan for the existing site".