The Black Watch (RHR) of Canada Museum and Archives

Please note the current opening hours of the Regimental Museum and Kit Shop:

June-August: Tuesdays 1100-1500
September-May: Tuesdays 1900-2100
Or by appointment
514-496-1686 ext 230 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Like the rest of the Regimental Family, the biggest recent highlight for the Black Watch Museum and Archives was the Presentation of New Colours by the Colonel-in-Chief in November. While the Museum played only a small role in the ceremony itself (it was into the Museum where the Old Colours were marched following their departure from the Parade Square), the buzz of activity in the weeks leading up to the parade and thereafter generated a great deal of interest in the Regiment, brought what was surely a record number of visitors into the Museum, and made the second week of November—which also saw the Remembrance Day Parade and the Change of Command Parade—without a doubt our busiest week in recent memory.

Aside from November’s excitement, over the past six months, steady progress has continued on the various projects currently being undertaken by the Museum and Archives. As has been the case for the past two years, the Museum redevelopment project remains our top priority. The majority of the work thus far has been done behind the scenes as floor plans have been created, exhibit layouts prepared, and artifacts selected, among other things. Although the physical re-construction can only begin once the Construction Engineers become available, we remain optimistic that by the 150^th anniversary in 2012, we will have a fully modernized Museum to unveil to the Regimental family. The artifact and archival inventory projects are also pushing ahead with full-steam, thanks largely to the work of our tireless team of volunteers. Furthermore, since last autumn, we welcomed a number of academic researchers to the Archives, provided photographic material and support for a five-part historical lecture series for the Recruit Platoon, and continued to assist LCol Jarymowycz with the research for his upcoming updated Regimental History book. Now that we have set the bar so high, we look forward to maintaining these high standards of accessibility and activity in the coming years.

This training year has not been without its challenges, however. Most significantly, while we have managed to maintain our regular Museum opening hours and have been able to accommodate a number of visitors by special arrangement, we have fallen woefully behind with regard to some other elements of our routine operations such as responding to correspondence, processing accessions, and following up on requests for information. Although we have fared well in recent years with military, government, and foundation grants aimed at supporting special projects such as the redevelopment of the Museum and digitalization of our archives inventory, we have relied almost exclusively on an annual grant from the Black Watch of Canada Foundation for our general operating budget. While this may have been sufficient in past years when there has been less activity in the Museum and Archives, our footprint has expanded considerably, and there is now a pressing need to re-evaluate our budget in order to meet the increasing demands.

It is this light that we are developing a fundraising programme with the Black Watch of Canada Foundation aimed at building and maintaining an increased annual operating budget for the Museum and Archives, which will be used to increase opening hours, to more effectively follow up on archival information requests, process accessions, answer correspondence, and to improve the organization of the Museum and Archives. More details about our fundraising programme will be released as they become available. Please be sure to check in at the Museum and Archives webpage and future CRH updates for more news about how to support the Museum. In the meantime, we would like to express our appreciation for your patience and understanding as we re-structure to better meet the needs of the Regimental family and the broader community.

We hope to be able to count on your support as we move towards our goal of a fully renovated and modernized Regimental Museum, fully catalogued Archives, and the resources to allow us to continue to preserve and promote the understanding of the proud history of the Black Watch (RHR) of Canada.