September 2023
Little Canada is a unique tourist attraction that lets you take a trip across Canada, all without having to use a plane, train, or automobile. Previously known as Our Home and Miniature Land, Little Canada can be found at Young-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, Ontario.
Opened on 5 August 2021, the attraction the brainchild of Dutchman Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, who moved to Canada in 1999, originally just for a two-year stint working in his family’s C&A Canadian stores. The inspiration for Little Canada came to him in 2011, not long after visiting Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany.
Split into specific regional destinations, Little Canada takes visitors on a trip across the country, with buildings, structures and natural features represented in HO scale (1:87 scale) miniature replicas. Initially, the destinations included Little Golden Horseshoe (Southern Ontario), Little Niagara, Little Ottawa, Little Toronto, Petit Quebec and Little North (Northern Canada), contained in a cooled room meant to represent the cold tundra regions of Canada. Destinations that have since been added include Little Montreal and Little Atlantic Canada. Each destination undergoes a repeating 15-minute day cycle transition from sunrise to sunset.
Future destinations will include Little Canadian Prairies, Little Canadian Rockies and Little West Coast. The entire attraction is spread out over two floors, covering 45,000 square feet of floorspace.
Toronto
Hamilton
Niagara Region
Ottawa
Quebec
Atlantic Region
The Work Behind The Scenes
Creating Little Canada were a large collection of model enthusiasts, who from 2014 to 2019, collectively worked about 100,000 hours in a Mississauga warehouse to create the scale-model components. The entire attraction is designed to be easily dismantled and transported. Artists specializing in mechatronics, animation, architecture, painters, sculptors and visual artists brought Brenninkmeijer’s vision to fruition, using laser-cut materials, including balsa, plywood and styrene to create the miniatures.
Littlize Yourself
One of the best features of Little Canada is that you can become a permanent part of the exhibit, or at least a miniature version of you. The “Littlization Station” is a walk-in booth that contains 128 cameras that will simultaneously take photographs of you. These photos will be used to create two 1⁄87-scale 3D printed miniature of you. You will have the choice of having a 3/4 inch to 5 inch “Little Me” version of yourself mailed to your home, or having a 3/4 inch “Little Me” placed in a Little Canada destination of your choice, in addition to the take-home version.
Sources: Little Canada (attraction) – Wikipedia, Little Canada: Home | Toronto (little-canada.ca).
