Temerty Foundation makes $30-million gift to ROM to ensure community access and engagement

TORONTO, May 21, 2025 — The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), together with the ROM Foundation, announces with gratitude a transformational $30-million endowment gift from the Temerty Foundation. With this gift, the Temerty Community Access and Engagement Fund is established to ensure that Canada’s leading museum will be an even more open and welcoming cultural anchor and inspirational focal point for all visitors. 

The vision underpinning this remarkable gift has three components: funding free admission opportunities to make ROM even more accessible to Ontario residents and visitors to the province; enhancing the guest experience in the Museum’s ever-more engaging gallery and public spaces by presenting new and dynamic programs and offerings; and ensuring that ROM’s activities are adaptive to the needs of current and future generations of visitors. 

ROM’s Free Main Floor pilot program, introduced in the summer of 2022 and successfully repeated during the summer seasons of 2023 and 2024, is a notable example of the access opportunities made possible by the Temerty Community Access and Engagement Fund. The objective of this pilot program – which offers free access to ROM’s full suite of main-floor galleries – is to connect and build lifelong relationships with new audiences, while providing an opportunity to gain detailed insights about new visitor needs and experiences. ROM is pleased to confirm that, thanks to the Temerty Community Access and Engagement Fund, Free Main Floor will return in 2025, welcoming guests for the first time to a fall edition of the program.  

The fund also makes possible ROM’s free Canada Day offering and helps support the visitor-favourite Third Tuesday Nights Free program, presented by TD Ready Commitment. In addition, it supports the delivery of the ROM Community Access Network (ROMCAN) program, which engages and accommodates key audience groups – from Indigenous youth to Canadian newcomers – and allows them to experience the entire Museum free of charge.    

“Through the Temerty Foundation’s extraordinary support, ROM continues to strengthen community and provide a landmark destination for all to gather, connect, and be inspired,” said Josh Basseches, ROM Director & CEO. “This funding increases public access, and enables special programs, live performances, and hands-on activities, making ROM an even greater cultural anchor and gathering place for Ontarians.” 

“Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Temerty Foundation, ROM will be able to expand both its programs and its reach, thereby strengthening the museum’s role as a vibrant civic hub,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. “Private-sector support such as this is crucial to supporting the continued innovation and long-term growth of Ontario’s arts and culture sector.” 

“A future filled with change calls for a strong cultural infrastructure,” said James Temerty. “Institutions like ROM will be more important than ever in bringing people together and championing curiosity, learning, and innovation, and we are delighted to play a role in making the Museum more accessible and engaging for all.” Louise Temerty added, “This gift was motivated by our strong belief in the power of these shared experiences to shape and inspire Canadian society, now and for generations to come.”

Janice Price, President & CEO of the ROM Foundation, said, “The Temerty Foundation has once again confirmed its legacy as a visionary force for civic progress. Thank you, James and Louise, for your generosity, partnership, and dedication to ROM.”

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For more information:  

ROM Communications   
media@rom.on.ca