Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently designated an immigration museum located at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, used as a point-of-entry for immigrants for almost 43 years, a National Historic Museum.

"Pier 21 symbolizes who we are — a nation of newcomers bonded together by a common quest for freedom, opportunity and democracy," Harper said.

Pier 21, which will be known as the National Immigration Museum, becomes one of only two National Museums located outside the nation’s capital of Ottawa, where the other four National Museums are situated.

The museum, also a National Historic Site, is in an ocean liner terminal that was the primary point of entry for newcomers to Canada from 1928 to 1971. Sometimes called the ‘Gateway to Canada,’ Pier 21 welcomed over one million immigrants to Canada in that time.

“No country has benefited more than Canada from free and open immigration,” Harper said.

The museum holds thousands of stories and records of Canadian immigration from 1967 to the present. Harper said the designation of the museum as a National Historic Museum recognizes the contributions immigrants have made to Canada’s history.

Pier 21’s National Museum status means that they will receive federal funding for development and operations.