McMichael Canadian Art Collection to close for three years for construction

TORONTO — The McMichael Canadian Art Collection will close its doors next week for a three-year renovation.

The gallery in Kleinburg, Ont., northwest of Toronto, is home to one of the largest collections of artwork by Canadian icons Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries.

The McMichael says the $125 million project will be the largest addition to the gallery in 40 years.

The gallery says the redevelopment will add 60 per cent more space “for exhibitions, education, conservation and public programming,” while also modernizing the facilities.

The building got its start as the log-and-fieldstone home of Signe and Robert McMichael, art lovers who began collecting works by the Group of Seven after they married.

The couple donated their tree-filled property, including the midcentury building and the art collection it housed, to the provincial government in 1965.

The McMichael says the redevelopment will maintain the low roofline and timber-and-stone construction of the original home.

The gallery says much of the collection will remain accessible during the construction period, because it will go on tour across the country and abroad.

It says it received $50 million from the provincial government, $25 million from the federal government and another $50 million from private donors for the project.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2026.