The Redpath Museum is an academic unit of McGill University. Its mission is to foster understanding and appreciation of the diversity of our biological, geological, and cultural heritage through scientific research, collections-based study, and education. Its collections have been growing for over a century, and provide resources for research and for graduate and undergraduate education in biology, geology, anthropology, and other fields. Its largest collections include fossils from the ancient sea floor of eastern Quebec, the oldest land plants, a vast range of minerals, molluscs from around the world, Egyptian and classical antiquities, and artifacts from Central Africa. The Museum also houses research laboratories and classrooms.

The Museum welcomes McGill students and staff to visit its permanent exhibit, which presents the history of life through the ages illustrated by material from Quebec and neighbouring regions, as well as displays that feature the mineral and mollusc collections. The Museum also features a world cultures gallery devoted to cultures throughout the world, including ancient Egypt, classical Greece and Rome, Asia, and Africa.