Opened in June 1997 and officially recognized as a military museum by the Canadian Armed Forces, the Bagotville Air Defence Museum is the only museum in the Province of Quebec dedicated to the history of military aviation.

The idea of opening a permanent museum at Base Bagotville took root in 1992 when, as part of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Base, a temporary exhibit was mounted at the Musée du Fjord in the city of La Baie. After many years of effort and with the help of numerous volunteers, both civilian and military, the museum was inaugurated officially on June 18, 1997, in what used to be the protestant chapel of Base Bagotville, adjacent to the commemorative park.

> The mission of the museum is threefold: to preserve, to explain and to disseminate the military aeronautical heritage of Canada. The museum is structured around one major theme, namely the air defence of Canada, and three minor themes; the historical development of Base Bagotville, the history of military and civil aviation in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, and technological and aeronautical developments.