Christine Johnstone is the Curator of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Museum, a role she has held since 2010. Her 27‑year career reflects a sustained commitment to preserving, interpreting, and sharing the organization’s history. She leads all aspects of museum operations, including collections management, exhibit development, research, and public engagement.
Christine first joined the OPP Museum in 1998 as a summer intern during the museum’s early years at General Headquarters. After completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with a specialist certificate in Museum Management and Curatorship, she returned as a contract employee. She later earned a Bachelor of Education in 2003 while continuing to support the museum through successive contracts. In 2007, she returned permanently as the Collections Coordinator.
In 2025, Christine guided the museum through one of its busiest and most successful years. The OPP Museum supported more than 125 events across Ontario, including holiday parades, fairs, festivals, reunions, regional gatherings, and community celebrations. Christine led the planning and historical support for these activities, ensuring each event featured appropriate artifacts, displays, and context so members of the public and the organization could connect meaningfully with OPP history. She also oversaw significant collection growth and delivered more than sixteen temporary exhibits.
Two major milestones defined the year: the 60th anniversary of the Canine Unit and the 50th anniversary of the Tactics and Rescue Unit (TRU). The Canine Unit anniversary included a public demonstration at General Headquarters, while the TRU anniversary brought together members from every era for a reunion and formal dinner. Christine led the historical planning and museum support for both milestones, coordinating research, displays, and artifacts that honoured the contributions of these specialized units.
Christine also led planning for the annual General Headquarters Family and Veterans’ Day, ensuring engaging exhibits and meaningful opportunities for members and families to learn about the organization’s history. She coordinated a collaboration with photographer Leah den Bok on Humanizing the Homeless, bringing a powerful exhibit and related presentations to OPP members. The exhibit highlighted a significant community issue and demonstrated the museum’s ability to connect policing history with broader social themes.
Collections management was a major focus in 2025. The museum accepted more than 75 new acquisitions, representing several hundred individual artifacts, including items related to the Canine Unit and TRU, historical insignia, photographs, and materials from the Eric Silk Library collection. Christine oversaw the documentation, cataloguing, and care of each item, strengthening the museum’s long‑term ability to preserve and interpret OPP history.
Exhibit development was another key area of achievement. The OPP Museum produced more than sixteen temporary exhibits in 2025, including displays recognizing the Canine Unit’s 60th anniversary, TRU’s 50th anniversary, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, Pride Month, and Humanizing the Homeless. These exhibits made OPP history accessible, relevant, and engaging for members and the public.
Much of this work built on the OPP’s 50th Anniversary of Women in Uniform, observed in 2024, for which Christine served as project manager. Several initiatives continued into 2025. The anniversary book—profiling more than 50 women in policing—reached its final stages, with Christine responsible for research, interviews, writing, editing, and photo selection to ensure each profile was accurate, respectful, and historically sound. Visual displays created for the anniversary year continued to travel across the province, including the Women of the OPP exhibit and life‑size photo cutouts at General Headquarters, community events, and veterans’ gatherings. An exhibit she created for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Community Exhibit Program remained in use at OPP and provincial functions in 2025.
In 2025, Christine further contributed to organizational culture by joining the planning committee for the Elevate Our Voices summit, providing historical insight and project expertise to support initiatives focused on inclusion and equality.
Through leadership, organization, and sustained commitment, Christine Johnstone ensured that OPP history was preserved, shared, and celebrated in 2025. Her work supported major milestones, strengthened community connections, and captured stories that might otherwise have been lost. For exceptional leadership, professional excellence, and meaningful results, Christine Johnstone is deserving of recognition as an On‑Duty Difference Maker – Civilian.
