The Manitoba government is creating dedicated endowment funds worth $1.4 million each for seven “signature” museums across the province.
The funds, coming with a price tag of $10 million for the province, are expected to generate roughly $62,000 in interest for each museum this year alone, Heritage Minister Cathy Cox said Thursday.
“These additional investments comes at a time when many Manitoba families are staying within our province and spending more time exploring our own beautiful backyard,” Cox said in a release.
The signature museum sustainability funds will be administered by each museum’s community foundation and are designed to grow over time, creating “guaranteed sustainability and growth for the museum in perpetuity,” according to the province.
The seven museums receiving the funds are:
- The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon
- The New Iceland Heritage Museum in Gimli
- The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg
- The Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach
- The Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin
- The St. Boniface Museum in Winnipeg
- The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden
The museums will also have access to roughly $10,000 each for training every year through the $200,000 Winnipeg Foundation-managed signature museum capacity building fund, the province said Thursday.
“We are grateful for this strategic investment and are happy to see the fund is targeting things like enhanced visitor experiences and access to professional development opportunities,” Vania Gagnon, director of the St. Boniface Museum, said in the province’s release.
“This provides us with a new level of certainty, which will make it easier to plan and continue to serve our role as one of the province’s signature museums.”