Sunday is the Bata’s free day: its visit page says admission is free for everyone on Sundays. Its four galleries include a permanent exhibition that reflects over 4,500 years of footwear history. Our pick for a slow Sunday: pair it with a walk along Bloor Street.
Weekend DeskList
Free Museum Days in Toronto: One Monthly Calendar
Sundays, Wednesdays, first Wednesday nights and City museums with free general admission: one Toronto calendar, with each museum's booking note.
Toronto’s free museum days are spread across the week, if you know which day to pick.
What is the free museum calendar at a glance?
- Sundays: the Bata Shoe Museum.
- Wednesday evenings: the Aga Khan Museum and the Gardiner Museum.
- First Wednesday night of each month: the AGO.
- Free general admission: the City’s history museums, from Fort York to Scarborough Museum.
- Now to Nov 29, 2026: the ROM’s Free Main Floor.
- With a library card: a tpl:map pass.
Offers change, so each entry links to the museum’s own page. Read the booking note there before you go. We list the museums in the order we would plan a free week. Free here means free general admission. A museum may charge for a special exhibition or event, as the ROM does for its paid exhibition, so check before you queue.
BMO Free Wednesdays gives free admission to the galleries every Wednesday evening. Inside is a growing permanent collection of manuscripts, paintings, ceramics and textiles from the 9th to the 21st century. The museum notes that these tickets are only available in person at its Guest Services Centre, so read its page before you head out.
The Gardiner’s admission is free on Wednesdays after a set time, and its page says no advance registration is required. Find the exact time on the museum’s page.
Admission is free on the first Wednesday night of each month, and the AGO asks you to book free tickets online in advance. The AGO describes a collection that runs from cutting-edge contemporary art and a vast collection of Group of Seven works to Western and Central African art.
The AGO also offers free, unlimited admission to Ontarians under 25. Its Visit for Free page adds a Community Access Program and the Canoo Cultural Access Pass for new citizens and permanent residents.
The ROM’s Free Main Floor runs from Sept 25 to Nov 29, 2026, with free access to the first-floor galleries and programs. Advance tickets are required, and you choose the “Free Main Floor only” box when you book. It does not include the paid exhibition. A drop-in workshop invites you to make a collage banner celebrating someone you admire.
General admission is free at Fort York. The site shares the stories of British and Upper Canada militiamen as well as First Nations and free Black communities in the War of 1812.
The historic house is visited by guided tour, and general admission is free. The mansion sits atop a ravine overlooking Toronto and opens a window onto the city from 1900 to the 1930s.
General admission is free in the Don River Valley, where the City says Todmorden Mills is a cross-section of Toronto.
General admission is free. The house is visited by guided tour, and the 1855 Coach House is open without one. It is the place where the vision for High Park was born.
General admission is free at four heritage buildings in Thomson Memorial Park. It is a good excuse to spend a weekend afternoon in Scarborough.
With your adult library card you can book a free pass to Toronto arts, culture and attractions. You log in to the reservation site, choose an attraction and a date, and print or download the pass. Passes depend on availability. The ROM, AGO, Aga Khan Museum and Bata Shoe Museum are all listed. Terms differ by museum, so read the pass details on each listing. Our Toronto Public Library museum passes guide walks through it.
Which free days need a booking?
It depends on the museum, which is why we link to each page. The ROM asks for advance tickets for Free Main Floor. The AGO asks you to book free tickets online in advance for its first Wednesday nights. The Aga Khan Museum says its Wednesday tickets are available in person. The Gardiner says no advance registration is required for its free Wednesdays. The City’s history museums list free general admission, with some exhibitions and events charging separately, so read the page for the visit you want.
Which other City museums are free?
Montgomery’s Inn, built in the 1830s to shelter travellers, lists free general admission. So does Gibson House Museum, a 19th-century farmhouse between the high rises of North York. The City’s museums page describes 10 City-run museums, from Colborne Lodge to Todmorden Mills.
How do you plan a free museum week?
Start with a day, pick one museum, and book anything that asks for tickets. Here is the week we would build, and it is opinion, not a rulebook.
- Wednesday evening: the Aga Khan Museum or the Gardiner Museum, whichever is closer to your commute.
- First Wednesday of the month: swap in the AGO, and book your free tickets early.
- Sunday: the Bata Shoe Museum, then a City museum nearby.
- A library card in your pocket: reserve a tpl:map pass for the weeks when the free days do not line up.
Our free things to do in Toronto guide collects more no-cost plans, and our Toronto museums guide goes deeper. For weekend ideas, see free things to do in Toronto this weekend.
Send this to the friend you would bring to a Wednesday evening at the museum.
Sources (17)
- Free Main Floor, Royal Ontario Museum
- Visit for Free!, Art Gallery of Ontario
- The AGO Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario
- BMO Free Wednesdays, Aga Khan Museum
- Location, Hours & Admission, Gardiner Museum
- Visit Us, Bata Shoe Museum
- About Us, Bata Shoe Museum
- Collections, Aga Khan Museum
- Toronto History Museums, City of Toronto
- Fort York National Historic Site, City of Toronto
- Spadina Museum, City of Toronto
- Todmorden Mills, City of Toronto
- Colborne Lodge, City of Toronto
- Scarborough Museum, City of Toronto
- Montgomery's Inn, City of Toronto
- Gibson House Museum, City of Toronto
- tpl:map, Toronto Public Library
Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
How did this land?
Send this to the friend you would bring.
Share this
“Saving this for a free museum day: Toronto's Sunday, Wednesday and first-Wednesday admissions, plus City museums and library passes, in one calendar.”
.jpg){kind=link}