The museum's administrative offices and scientific centres are housed at a separate location, the Natural Heritage Campus, in Gatineau, Quebec.

The museum also hosts and organizes several travelling exhibitions and supports and conducts several research programs relating to natural history.

The Canadian Museum of Nature originates from the collecting efforts of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), an organization established in 1842 in Montreal.

[4] In 1877, the museum mandate was formally expanded to include the study of modern fauna and flora, in addition to human history, languages, and traditions.

[4] In the following year, management of the museum was assumed by the Department of Mines, with the mandate formally expanded to include anthropological studies.

[6] Between 2004 and 2010, the federal government spent approximately C$216 million dollars on expanding and renovating the Canadian Museum of Nature.

[6] Construction for the rehabilitation project was done in phases, with large portions of the existing structure removed and demolished for renovations.

Metcalfe Street's southern and northern portions also terminate north and south of the building as it detours to the east of the property.

[14] The 18,910-square-metre (203,492 sq ft) Tudor-Gothic Revival-style building was designed by David Ewart, the Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works.

[14] The interior is also embellished with carved wood and bronze balustrades, mosaic floors, marble and plaster detailing and decorative works, and stained glass windows.

[6] The 20 metres (66 ft) glass tower houses a butterfly staircase that was installed to improve visitor circulation in the museum.

[11] The construction of the Queens' Lantern formed a part of a larger rehabilitation project undertaken by the museum between 2004 and 2010, including a 2,300 square metres (25,000 sq ft) partially below-grade expansion to the south of the building, which included laboratories, the shipping and receiving area, workshops, and a green roof;[11] the latter feature used as an outdoor public gathering place.

[14] Most of the sandstone used in the building was quarried from Nepean, Ontario, Wallace, Nova Scotia, and several communities in Quebec.

[13] The Natural Heritage Campus houses the museum's administrative offices, scientific facilities, and collection storage.

[22] A goodwill Lunar sample gifted to Canada by the United States is on display in the Earth Gallery.

[27] The Arctic Experience gallery encompasses 8,000 square feet (740 m2), and is divided into four themed areas that cover climate, ecosystems, geography, and sustainability; in addition to a Beyond Ice installation.

[27] The Beyond Ice installation provides visitors a sensory experience of the Arctic region, and was designed alongside the National Film Board of Canada.

"[28] The museum's collection includes algae, amphibians, birds, bryophytes, fishes, gemstones, invertebrate animals, lichens, mammals, minerals, mosses, palaeobotany material, reptiles, rocks, vascular plants, and vertebrate fossils.

[30] Although a number of these items are on display in its exhibitions, many of these specimens are held at an off-site storage facility, the Natural Heritage Campus in Gatineau, Quebec.

[31] Since 2001, there were approximately 43,000 specimens added to the museum's collections annually; acquired primarily through fieldwork by staff, research associates and other collaborators.

[32] Other early researchers who helped build up the institution's collections includes Erling Porsild, Charles Mortram Sternberg, and Percy A.

The former skeletal set was initially mistaken for a Gorgosaurus although research conducted by the museum during the 1960s determined that the fossils were a new species of dinosaur.

[37] The species was discovered by American paleontologists Edward Daeschler, Farish Jenkins, and Neil Shubin on Ellesmere Island, who studied the fossils in the United States before they were sent to the Canadian Museum of Nature.

[44] The library contains over 35,000 books, 2,000 periodic titles, museum publications, and microfilms relating to natural history.