[1] A new facility, The Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, near Olympic Stadium in Montreal, opened in April 2013.

The planetarium was opened in advance of Expo 67 and inaugurated on April 1, 1966, by then-Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau.

Work had commenced on the project more than three years before its launch, under the guidance of Dr. Pierre Gendron, a former professor of chemistry and founding Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, who was an avid amateur astronomer.

The Planetarium was built at a cost of $1.2 million on the site of the historic Bonaventure Station on Chaboillez Square near Old Montreal.

The city-owned building has since been ceded to the École de technologie supérieure, a major engineering school which is located nearby.