Officials and politicians dedicated the cornerstone of the Maple Leaf Gardens and laid a time capsule on 21 September 1931. Newspaper reports of the day failed to mention the time capsule. It lay hidden for 80 years until October 2011 when bricklayers found it while removing a stone slab during the reconstruction and refurbishment of the building. Loblaw immediately took custody.

The media reporting the discovery in 2011 and in 2012 did not definitively cite the time capsule's location. The most widely reported location was under the ceremonial stone marking the name of the building near the front doors on Carlton Street. Another reported location was behind the cornerstone at the Carlton and Church Streets corner whereon the year 'A.D. 1931' is prominent. To confuse the matter further, one time capsule content item, the manuscript (RG 326.03.02), states it was "to be placed in the corner stone of The Maple Leaf Gardens at the South East corner of that building located at the intersection of Church and Carlton Streets..."

Ryerson and Loblaw jointly held a media event in January 2012 displaying the box and its contents in the atrium of the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre building. Some time later, Ryerson Mattamy Athletic Centre took possession of the box and contents, taking the box itself and some items for its display case and donating the remainder to the Ryerson Archives. Thus, on 19 February 2013, Ryerson Archives took custody of the newspapers, the manuscript, the prospectus, the miniature flag, and the disintegrating blue ribbon. The elephant pendant, the three hockey rule booklets, and the Toronto Handbook stayed on display at the Mattamy Centre.