Oakville Museum Strategic Plan 2026–2030

A strategic plan focused on Oakville’s shared heritage through exhibitions, programs, and experiences.

Why now?

Oakville is growing and becoming more diverse. Community interests and expectations are also changing.

The Oakville Museum has a strong foundation and an important role in preserving and sharing Oakville’s stories. 

The Strategic Plan will help guide the Museum’s work over the next five years and identify opportunities to strengthen its impact in the community.

What we heard

The Strategic Plan reflects the Museum’s role as a welcoming community space where people can connect with Oakville’s shared heritage through exhibitions, programs, and experiences.

Community feedback highlighted the importance of accessibility, community participation, education, collections stewardship, and meaningful visitor experiences. These themes helped shape the priorities and actions included in the Strategic Plan.

Strategic purpose

To connect people to Oakville’s shared heritage by offering inclusive exhibitions and programs that celebrate the stories, places, and communities that shape Oakville.

Read The Oakville Museum Strategic Plan 2026–2030

Guiding principles

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Community participation

Encouraging shared storytelling, collaboration, and participation at the Oakville Museum, and within its expanded programming.
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Collections stewardship

Preserving artifacts, ancestral objects, stories, and historical resources for future generations.

Accessibility

Ensuring the Museum is accessible and welcoming to all audiences that it serves.
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Education and programming

Creating and supporting learning opportunities for all ages to create “life-long” learners.
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Authenticity

Presenting accurate, meaningful, and connected interpretations of the history of Oakville, from the town’s conception to today.

Priority areas

The Strategic Plan identifies five priority areas that will guide the Museum’s work into 2030:

  1. Increase awareness and visibility 
  2. Expand digital access 
  3. Deepen community connections 
  4. Enhance the visitor experience 
  5. Build organizational capacity

Thank you

The Oakville Museum Strategic Plan 2026–2030 was developed by Know History in collaboration with Museum staff, Town of Oakville staff, community members, and partners.

The Oakville Museum would like to thank everyone who participated in consultation sessions and shared their ideas, experiences, and feedback. Your contributions helped shape this plan and will guide the future direction of the Museum.

The Strategic Plan was unanimously approved by Council on June 22, 2026.

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