Public asked to shape future of Hudson’s Bay royal charter
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The four institutions sharing Hudson’s Bay’s royal charter are launching a public consultation to help decide how access to and education around the 356-year-old document are handled in the future.
The museums and archive that form the Hudson’s Bay Co. Royal Charter Consortium say the public consultation will be led by consulting firm First Peoples Group with support from Nanos Research and Lord Cultural Resources.
The public consultation will have several phases, beginning with a focus on Indigenous relations. It will include virtual gatherings and in-person meetings starting this month to collect feedback from Indigenous people in Winnipeg, Timmins, Ont., Yellowknife, Vancouver and Iqaluit.
The second phase will include a national survey with all Canadians invited to participate.
The feedback generated will form a framework the Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Museum, Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto will use to guide how they promote access and learning around the charter.
The charter issued by King Charles II in 1670 established Hudson’s Bay and gave it immense control over land, trading and Indigenous relations for decades to come.
The holding companies of the Weston family of Loblaw Cos. Ltd. fame and media baron David Thomson purchased the charter for $18 million in December, months after Hudson’s Bay filed for creditor protection in March and put its assets up for sale.
Once the purchase was complete, they donated the charter to the quartet of public institutions and asked the group to consult the public on the document’s future care, stewardship, public access and display.
The Manitoba Museum will be the first member of the consortium to display the charter in late 2027, with the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Ontario Museum to take on hosting duties eventually.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026.