Affectionately dubbed "Canada's Front Door," Pier 21 served as the entry point for nearly a million immigrants—refugees, evacuees, war brides, and others—between 1928 and 1971, and in a country where the population has still not reached 36 million, it's a significant number. The purpose of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 is to explore the theme of immigration to Canada in order to enhance public understanding of the experiences of immigrants as they arrived in Canada, of the vital role immigration has played in the building of Canada and of the contributions of immigrants to Canada’s culture, economy and way of life. Newly expanded, we celebrate Canadian immigration stories from past to present day. The only National Museum east of the Capital Region, we doubled our exhibit space in 2015 to include the broader story of Canadian immigration from first contact to the present day. The Museum’s current temporary exhibition, Canada’s Titanic- Empress of Ireland runs until November 2016. Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland is a dramatic exhibition that takes visitors to the heart of the one of the greatest maritime disasters in Canadian history. Artifacts from this once-splendid ocean liner, historical documents and witness accounts help bring to life stories of loss and rescue, despair and bravery.