Did you know?

According to a national survey by the Council for Business and the Arts in Canada, the WDM maintains more exhibit area than any other public museum in Canada, with 25,000 square metres (270,000 square feet) of enclosed space.

WDM Mission

The Western Development Museum is the keeper of Saskatchewan’s collective heritage. The Museum shares the province’s unique sense of place with all people for their understanding and enjoyment – recognizing that the legacy of the past is the foundation for a sustainable future.

WDM Mandate:

As stated in the Western Development Museum Act, 1949, revised October 1983, Province of Saskatchewan:

The Board shall endeavour:

(a) to procure by gift, donation, devise, bequest or loan wherever possible, and by purchase where necessary and desirable, tools, machinery, implements, engines, devices and other goods and chattels of historical value and importance connected with the economic and cultural development of western Canada;

(b) to collect, arrange, catalogue, recondition, preserve and exhibit to the public, the tools, machinery, implements, engines, devices and other goods and chattels referred to in clause (a);

(c) to stimulate interest in the history of the economic and cultural development of western Canada;

(d) to cooperate with organizations having similar objects. R.S.S. 1965, c.400, s.11.

The WDM logo, with the wheat and the wheel in harmony, was adopted in 1979. Wheat represents the bounty of the prairies. The wheel symbolizes progress.

1959 Royal Visit,

Saskatoon WDM.

1914 Vulcan Steam Locomotive,

Moose Jaw WDM.

Keatley elevator enroute to North Battleford WDM, October, 1983.

Carved figures at the Yorkton WDM symbolize a poignant

Saskatchewan story.