The Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) is Canada's national museum of natural history whose mandate is to increase, throughout Canada and internationally, interest in, knowledge of, and respect and appreciation for the natural world. It achieves this through the development of permanent and travelling exhibitions, public education programmes, active scientific research, and the maintenance of a 10-million-specimen collection.

The CMN's roots go back over 150 years to the origins of the Geological Survey of Canada. Today, as a federal Crown corporation the CMN's programs and activities are being driven by a new vision of national service. Partnerships with other scientific and educational organisations will help the CMN develop exhibitions, public programmes and research initiatives related to natural history and environmental topics of national interest.

One example of this new vision is The Geee! in Genome, an exhibition and national education project about the science and impacts of the emerging field of genomics, presented nationally by Genome Canada.

In addition to enhancing public education, the CMN curates extensive collections of plants, animals, minerals and fossils from Canada and around the world, housed at its Natural Heritage Building in Gatineau, Quebec. Its collections of fish, tropical beetles, freshwater clams, Arctic plants, horned dinosaurs and lichens are considered among the best in the world. The collections contain many holotypes (or type specimens) – specimens that were first used to describe new species. In addition, the Museum has a team of researchers who pursue collections-based scientific research focussed on systematics (the study and classification of species) and diversity in the areas of paleontology, mineralogy, and biodiversity.
To learn more about the CMN's history, collections and programs, visit its Web site, nature.ca.