New temporary location for Ontario Science Centre announced for Harbourfront Centre

The Ontario Science Centre is going to temporarily set up shop at the Harbourfront Centre by next summer.

The Ford government made the announcement on Wednesday morning, as work continues on a permanent science centre location at Ontario Place that isn’t expected to be open until 2029.

The provincial governmentsays moving facility to the Harbourfront Centre in the interim will support the protection of jobs, boost tourism, and drive economic growth.

“By establishing the Ontario Science Centre’s interim location at the Harbourfront Centre, we’re helping Ontario families access world-class science programming even as we continue building a new, expanded and state-of-the-art Ontario Science Centre just steps away at Ontario Place,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming.

KidSpark, Ontario Science Centre’s learning space, has already been running out of the waterfront centre since December 2024.

The province says moving the science facility to Harbourfront Centre in the interim will expand this space and offer a “customized location for exciting science and technology programming” until its forever home at Ontario Place is ready to open its doors.

The pop-up science centre that has been operating out of Sherway Gardens will be open to families and visitors until Jan. 4, 2026, so that staff can focus on the temporary location.

The province did not say when exactly the centre would be open to the public next summer.

Once the facility is open, however, the Ford government says there will be exhibitions and workshops, as well as shared spaces for community events and programs.

“The government’s new interim location at Harbourfront Centre will allow the Ontario Science Centre to put down roots on the waterfront, not far from our future home at Ontario Place,” John Carmichael, chair of the Ontario Science Centre Board of Trustees, said in Wednesday’s release.

“This provides stability and the knowledge that the Science Centre will be creating lasting science experiences and new memories for generations to come.”

The former home of the Ontario Science Centre was closed in June 2024 amid concerns about the building’s structural integrity, particularly the building’s roof.

When it was seeking a temporary home for the science centre, after the facility’s abrupt closure on June 21, 2024, the province said it was hoping to open the interim site no later than Jan. 1, 2026.

• READ MORE: ‘The biggest betrayal’: A year on, staff grieve Ontario Science Centre’s snap closure

The opening date for the facility has already been delayed, as Premier Doug Ford had initially announced the new facility would open in 2028.

An auditor general report from late last year found the cost estimate for the new science centre’s construction has increased by nearly $400 million from the province’s spring 2023 business case for relocating it. This means it will cost about $1.4 billion, higher than the $1.3 billion-estimate for maintain the attraction at its previous location in Toronto’s east end.

With files from The Canadian Press