Ottawa museum showcases Canadian Scouting history
The Scouts Canada headquarters, Home to the Scouts Canada National Museum. Photo: James Morgan
Ottawa is home to many national museums, but there’s one that’s lesser known, but just as important. The Scouts Canada National Museum is located at the headquarters of Scouts Canada at 1345 Baseline Road in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean. Scouts Canada is the country’s largest youth organization and has over 61,000 members. It was established in 1914 as a direct descendant of the Boy Scouts started in Britain by Lord Robert Baden Powell (“BP”) in 1907. Boy Scouts of Canada began allowing girls to join its various divisions nearly 30 years ago and does not discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation. Scouts Canada operates in both English and French, but a partner organization called the Association des Scouts du Canada also serves French-speaking youth. Both organizations are part of the World Scouting Federation which Boy Scouts of America is also part of.
A Canadian Boy Scout Uniform that looks like it’s from the 1950s. Photo: James Morgan
The museum in Ottawa contains thousands of items from Canada’s Scouting past. For anyone who grew up in Scouting in some form or another, it’s a bit of a trip down memory lane. I was a Beaver, a Wolf Cub, and a Venturer at various points in my childhood. Beavers are for ages five to seven, and seeing one of their little brown vests and floppy hats on display took me back to weekly meetings in the elementary school gymnasium or the annual “Beaveree” that was held in a local park. I saw a Wolf Cub uniform that was the same as the one I had, and it was a hand-me-down my grandmother still had stored away from when my uncle used it. The Venturer uniforms and related materials from the 1990s were a more recent memory, but it was difficult to accept that items from the 1990s are now in a museum.
Memorabilia from Scouts Canada’s Cold-War era activities in West Germany. Photo: James Morgan
Leaders in all walks of Canadian life were involved in Scouting at some time. There are amusing photos in the museum of politicians, military officers, and astronauts with toothy childhood smiles wearing their Scouting uniforms. Canadian Scouting has had an international presence too. During the Cold War, Boy Scout Troops for the sons of military personnel on Canadian bases in Europe existed. A Scouts Canada troop also existed in Washington D.C. at the Canadian Embassy.
Harry Jones, a Scout Leader from Ottawa, operates the amateur radio station at the Scouts Canada National Museum. Photo: James Morgan
Jamborees are a big part of Scouting. The museum contains memorabilia from local ones, but also the national Canadian Jamborees “CJ’s” that attract thousands of Scouts from across the country. 13 of these have been held since 1949. Canada also hosted the 1955 and 1983 World Scout Jamborees. Learning skills are a big part of Scouting too. The museum gives attention to all of the traditional outdoors-related merit badges and skills, but it also shows how Scouting has adapted to the changing lifestyles and skills young people have adopted over the decades.
The Scouts Canada National Museum is an interesting and nostalgic stop for anyone who grew up in Scouting. It’s also a good way to learn about an institution that has been a big part of Canadian communities and families.
