Aside from contributions from the private sector and capital grants, the Canadian railway museum received its first official funding in 1978 when it was recognized by a federal government program as being a specialized railway museum. Consequently, the museum was given financial support to help fulfill its mission to preserve our heritage. The fact that our collection was the most impressive, the largest, and the most important in Canada was one of the factors that led to our institution being accredited by the Québec Government Department of Culture and Communications. We have been receiving operating grants for 27 years, since 1979.
The financial support provided by this department has been, and continues to be, of assistance to the museum, as has that provided by the private sector and the association's 1 000 members from around Canada. Financial support has become all the more important over the pas seven or eight years as operational costs linked to new equipment have increased by 320% since 1979. In time gone by, our operating budget was far smaller, as exhibition halls were not heated in winter. This was not ideal for preserving our collection, but we were unable to receive more funding without developing capital investment projects. The association began work on capital investment projects in the 1970s with a view to housing the collection in a building that met museums standards.
Over the years several museums were renovated and new museums opened their doors, but the railway museum made little headway each year. Twenty years went by before we were able to get equipment that meets current standards. The board of directors put a great deal of effort into funding for premises that were up to standards, and had to rely exclusively on the museum's assistance program for developing interpretation projects.
Aside from funding from the Québec government, the railway museum had no access to support funding for its collections on a recurring basis.