The Art Gallery of Ontario, one of Canada’s largest art museums, is planning a 55,000-square-foot expansionof its building in downtown Toronto, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Dubbed “AGO Global Contemporary,” the proposed expansion would include asix-floor tower rising from the northeast corner of the building to accommodate new galleries for contemporary art. Its estimated budget is $60-million.

The gallery issued a request for proposals to potential architects in December. That document calls for “highly flexible and well-proportioned spaces that can accommodate the media and materials artists are working in today and tomorrow.”

The AGO is considering a tower with six floors of new gallery space. These are meant to serve the AGO’s “growing collection of global modern & contemporary art and exhibitions,” Andrea-Jo Wilson, the gallery’s manager of public relations, said in an e-mail. She said the project is “in its infancy.”

The plan is part of a larger strategic vision, Ms. Wilson said. The AGO aims “to lead global conversations from Toronto, through extraordinary collections, exhibitions and programs, by reflecting the people who live here.”

The gallery’s request-for-proposals document highlights the diversity of the AGO’s audience, and makes the argument that modern and contemporary art are driving audience growth.

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