Musée Grévin Montreal

The Musée Grévin Montreal was a waxwork museum located in the Montreal Eaton Centre in Ville-Marie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established as the first international outpost of the Paris-based Musée Grévin, the institution operated from 2013 until its permanent closure in 2021. It featured wax figures of prominent Canadian, Québécois, and international personalities, alongside historical tableaux. The museum was owned by Grévin and Cie, a subsidiary of Compagnie des Alpes, and charged an admission fee for daily visits.

The project originated in 2007 from the creation of a wax figure of Céline Dion, which inspired the parent company to export the Grévin brand globally. The development required two years of work by Montreal and Parisian artists, with an investment of 14 million Canadian dollars. The museum was inaugurated on April 17, 2013, by Compagnie des Alpes president Dominique Marcel, opening to the public two days later on April 19. It became the first Grévin location outside France. A Quebec academy, presided over by journalist Marc Laurendeau, was formed to select figures, with a plan to add three new characters annually, though only two were ultimately installed each year. Despite initial projections of 300,000 annual visitors, the museum recorded 85,000 entries in its first four months. By April 16, 2015, it had welcomed over 365,000 visitors, ranking third in ticket sales among Montreal museums and earning the highest visitor satisfaction score across all Compagnie des Alpes sites. Following a mandatory 50-week closure during the Covid-19 pandemic and a severe drop in attendance, the museum announced its immediate permanent closure on September 16, 2021, due to financial losses.

The collection comprised over 120 wax characters arranged into thematic scenes. Its primary focus was the reconstitution of significant events and figures from Canadian and Québécois history and culture, ranging from early colonial figures like Jacques Cartier to modern icons. The museum also incorporated international figures from entertainment, science, and politics. New figures were regularly added to the displays to keep the exhibits current.

Historical Canadian tableaus formed the core of the historical exhibits. Cultural highlights included a scene recreating the 1969 Bed-in for Peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, as well as a display dedicated to ice hockey. International and contemporary figures represented included Elizabeth II, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Donald Sutherland, Naomi Campbell, Elton John, and Alfred Hitchcock. A wax figure of former Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay was produced but never displayed, kept in Parisian workshops due to the Charbonneau Commission corruption inquiry.

The museum was situated on the fifth level of the Montreal Eaton Centre, occupying a former cinema complex known as the Famous Players Centre Eaton 6. The interior was designed by French and Québécois scenographers Julien Bertevas and Dick Walsh, the latter a specialist in event choreography for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quebec firms Geodezik and Moment Factory contributed to the spatial and multimedia elaboration of the site.

The museum was located in downtown Montreal and was accessible via the McGill metro station, connecting directly to the Underground City network. It operated daily with an admission fee. Kathleen Payette served as the museum's general director starting in January 2017. The institution ceased operations immediately on September 16, 2021, ending its role as a tourist site.