National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which falls on September 30 along with Orange Shirt Day, is an annual day to honor the victims and survivors of residential schools. The first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation took place in 2021.
For more than 150 years, residential schools operated throughout Canada, funded by the government and run by church organizations.
During that time, more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation children were taken from their homes to attend the schools.1 It’s estimated that 6,000 children died at residential schools from abuse and neglect, while thousands of others suffered abuse, and many are still missing.2
In total, over 130 residential schools operated between 1831 and 1996.
In the 1990s, survivors of the schools started to speak out about the conditions they suffered; they demanded the truth about what happened and compensation.
In 2007, the implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement began; it’s the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.3 It provided financial compensation to survivors and established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to the former students of residential schools.
The TRC operated until 2015 and transferred its records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). You can read more about the TCR’s extensive research here.
Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that aims to raise awareness about the intergenerational impacts of residential schools. The day references a story about an orange shirt that was taken from Phyllis Webstad when she was six years old on her first day of a residential school. Webstad founded the Orange Shirt Society in 2015 to continue raising awareness and promoting the concept of “Every Child Matters.”
Learn more about the history of residential schools and the importance of National Truth and Reconciliation Day at the following resources.
"Residential School History." National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.↩
"Residential Schools in Canada." The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.↩
"Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada." https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/backgrounders/2015/12/15/final-report-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-canada. Accessed 9 Sept. 2024.↩
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