Events

Now-January 3, 2027

 Level 2,  Earth's Treasures 

What are critical minerals? How do they play into our lifestyle choices?

ROM's  latest gallery installation shines a light on critical minerals and  goals for a "net zero" society. The minerals in this case are identified  as critical because they are essential to economic and national  security, especially in supporting the transition to a net zero society.  Toronto, Canada (and the world) is pursuing this major climate goal,  where our actions no longer result in a net increase of atmospheric  greenhouse gases.

From the Province of Ontario's elimination of  coal-fueled electricity in 2014, to planting native species in our  gardens, mitigation and adaptation actions can go hand-in-hand to reduce  greenhouse gases, decrease demand for resource extraction, and lessen  impacts on our societies as we transition to a net zero world. 

Critical minerals - the emerging story

Today,  critical minerals are an important global topic as countries worldwide  focus on both a net zero transition and future mineral demands for  emerging and growing technologies. These critical minerals are  recognized as essential to our progression towards net zero; however,  the gap between supply and demand is increasing under growing  technological demands. While a shift to renewable energy sources will  lead to a global decrease in resource extraction, the impacts will  affect different communities in different ways, including economically,  socially, and environmentally. Which leads to critical choices.

Critical choices - critical awareness

A  net zero society requires critical choice - the goal is not to  restrict, but to maximize the lifestyle options of its citizens,  allowing people to choose net zero lifestyles that have a minimum impact  on our environment - and pocket. 

Whether one drives an electric  vehicle and lives in a single-family suburban house (surrounded by  native plants) or takes the subway and lives in a multiple-family  building, each choice we make affects our societal demand for critical  minerals. A net zero society is ultimately an expansion of lifestyle  choices (giving more options for residences, transit, etc.) rather than a  restriction of options.

Canada's critical minerals - a sampling

To  learn more, visit the installation and take a moment to learn about six  of Canada's priority critical minerals - cobalt, nickel, copper,  graphite, lithium, and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) - and see how they are  used in our everyday world.

Now-Sept 13, 2026

A quiet lake in Ontario is making a lot of noise.

Sediments from the bottom of a small lake in Ontario are revealing a remarkable record of our impact on the planet.

Just  outside Toronto, Ontario lies a significant site offering a unique,  comprehensive 1,000-year record of human impacts - local, regional, and  global: Crawford Lake near Milton, Ontario. 

The lake has  intrigued scientists for decades, and research on sediments at the  bottom of the lake has identified it as having the best record of  humanity's impact on the planet. This led to the lake's selection as the  "golden spike" (definitive marker showing where one epoch ends and  another begins) candidate for a proposed new epoch on the geologic time  scale - the Anthropocene.

Learn about the effects on the land and  waters when Indigenous communities started growing food in the 13th  Century, the impacts of 19th Century European settlement, the nuclear  age, and more. Through the study of the lake's unique varved sediments -  thin, alternating layers of calcite and organic sediment marking each  year - similar to tree rings - scientists have been able to chronicle  nearly a thousand years of human-caused and natural environmental  changes up to the present day.

Showcasing Indigenous belongings  and settler objects, examples of local and introduced plants, historical  documentation, related artworks, core samples, and more, Crawford Lake: Layers in Time offers an engaging, compelling look at the record of human life on  Earth. The exhibition illustrates how everything from early agriculture  to modern nuclear weapons testing has left its mark on this unassuming  Canadian lake - and on the Earth at large - encouraging us to consider  what record our activities and the decisions we make today will be left  behind for future generations to uncover.

 Toronto Game Expo is an action-packed celebration of gaming at  Exhibition Place, with hundreds of vendors selling video games, board  games, collectables and art. Check out the free play gaming featuring 30  gaming systems, Kids Zone with colouring pages and a scavenger hunt,  claw machines, crafting workshops for teens, board games, tournaments,  cosplay, trivia games, and much more, plus kids aged 4-10 are only $10  for the whole weekend, and kids under four are free!

Date: March 28-29
Time: Saturday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM & Sunday 10:00 -4:00
Venue: Enercare Centre, Hall G, Exhibition Place
Address: 195 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto

Coming Soon Jun 6, 2026 to Dec 6, 2026    

   Level 4,  Roloff Beny Gallery        

 $9 Surcharge  

 An immersive and transdisciplinary exhibition, Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science. explores the cross-cultural and scientific importance of altered states  of consciousness. Featuring artworks, objects, botanical specimens, and  interactives, along with broad consultations and a nuanced narrative,  this exhibition makes sense of a topic which, for the past half century,  has been too taboo to tackle.