Home - Diefenbunker Museum

The museum is temporarily closed.
We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as we can!

About Canada’s Cold War Museum

The Diefenbunker is a massive four-story underground bunker, built between 1959 and 1961. During the Cold War, top officials were to take shelter here in the event of a nuclear war. It was active as Canadian Forces Station Carp until 1994.

Today, it operates as a not-for-profit, charitable museum with award-winning tours and programs.

While we’re closed, let’s learn more about the Diefenbunker from home with our collection of online activities and resources. You can explore:

If you have questions, let’s connect on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. We will happily answer any of your questions.

About the Cold War

The Cold War is the period between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was a period of tense conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union and each country’s respective allies.

Learn more in this 2-minute video from Historica Canada explaining the Cold War and Canada’s role.

Shop Online

We’re very excited for you to browse through our new online Bunker Boutique! Here’s a peek at our online collection.
Shop anytime from home!

Caution Radioactive Material Toddler Tee

Take Shelter Baseball Shirt

One Nuclear Bomb Tee

Take Shelter Baseball Shirt

Keep shopping >>>

The Machine Room Virtual Tour

Did you know?

The bunker ran on hydroelectric power during its years of operation, much like it is today. In the event of a lockdown situation it was important that the bunker continued to be powered.
The machine room had 4 diesel generators to power the bunker. Only 2 generators were required to keep the bunker powered in an outage. The first generator would provide power to communications only. The second was to provide power to the rest of the bunker.

Click on the image to learn more about the machine room and all its functions. We also interview one of the employees who worked in the machine room.

Virtual Tours

You can view the Diefenbunker from any device and even with VR goggles if you have them! Click on the image to open the tour.

Machine Room

400 Level

300 Level

200 Level & Vault

Ways to support

During the unprecedented times, we’ve had many people ask to help. Thank you.

As a private, non-profit museum, we depend on visitors for 75% of our operating revenue. We need your support now more than ever. There are many easy ways that you can best support us so we can continue to teach, inform, and inspire you through lessons learned from the Cold War. See below and click on the blue squares to follow the links!

We miss you all and can’t wait to reopen our blast doors and welcome you underground again.

When we reopen, we would love to see you underground for our traditional ways to visit the museum.

HOURS AND ADMISSION

For the best experience, give yourself at least one hour to explore the Diefenbunker.

Monday to Friday
10:30 am – 4:00 pm*

Saturday and Sunday
10:00 am – 4:30 pm*

Holiday hours & special closures here.

*The Admissions desk closes 30 minutes before the museum closes, Tickets cannot be purchased during this time.

Admission
Adults: $17.50 | Seniors: $16.50
Students: $13.00 | Youth: $11.00
Family rate: $48.50
Children 5 and under: Free
Members: Free
Parking is always free!