National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Orange Shirt Day, residential schools, and the day of observance

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed on September 30 in Canada to honour the children who died in residential schools, the survivors, and their families. It is a federal holiday and a statutory holiday in six provinces and territories. The day is also recognized as Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led observance.

The one-line summary

A Canadian federal holiday observed on September 30 to honour survivors of residential schools, the children who died, and their families. Created in 2021 in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The day coincides with Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led observance started in 2013.

Residential schools

From the 1870s to the 1990s, the Canadian federal government operated a network of 139 federally funded residential schools, attended by approximately 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children. The schools were part of a policy of forced assimilation intended to "kill the Indian in the child"; the policy was articulated in documents like the 1920 Indian Act amendment making attendance compulsory and the residential school funding formula tied to enrolment.

The residential school system operated for more than a century, with the last school closing in 1996. Survivors documented widespread physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; high mortality from disease, malnutrition, and suicide; and the systematic suppression of Indigenous language, culture, and family bonds. The 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada described the system as cultural genocide.

Discovery of unmarked graves

Beginning in May 2021 with the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site in British Columbia, ground-penetrating radar and archival research have identified thousands of unmarked graves at former residential school sites across Canada. The discoveries, ongoing as of 2026, have included significant finds at Marieval (Saskatchewan), Cranbrook (BC), Cowessess (Saskatchewan), and other sites. The actual death toll is believed to be substantially higher than the 4,100 documented deaths in the TRC report.

The discoveries intensified public attention to the residential school legacy and contributed to the rapid adoption of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by federal and provincial governments. The discoveries also spurred the search for unmarked graves at the sites of other institutions that housed Indigenous children, including tuberculosis sanatoria and day schools.

Origin of the holiday

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established by the federal government on June 3, 2021, through Bill C-5, in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Call to Action recommended that the federal government, in collaboration with Indigenous peoples, establish a statutory holiday to "honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of national reconciliation."

The first observation of the federal holiday was September 30, 2021. The day was established with a statutory framework applying to federal employees and federally regulated workplaces. Provinces and territories subsequently adopted the day as a statutory holiday in their jurisdictions; British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut had adopted the day as of 2023.

Orange Shirt Day

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led observance held on September 30, started by Phyllis Webstad in 2013. The orange shirt refers to a new orange shirt Webstad received for her first day of residential school at age six in 1973 at the St. Joseph Mission school in Williams Lake, BC; the shirt was taken from her and never returned. The orange shirt became a symbol of the residential school experience and the broader legacy of forced assimilation.

The first Orange Shirt Day was held in Williams Lake in 2013, organized by Webstad and the local First Nations community. The day spread rapidly to other communities and institutions; the Every Child Matters campaign, associated with the day, became a global movement. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day are now observed on the same date and complement each other: the federal holiday provides the institutional framework, and Orange Shirt Day provides the community-led observance.

How it is observed

Observances vary by community and institution. Many Indigenous communities hold memorial ceremonies, sacred fires, feasts, and community walks. Schools, libraries, and museums host educational events, book readings, and film screenings. The federal government organizes events on Parliament Hill and at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg. Many Canadians wear orange shirts in solidarity. The Every Child Matters flag is flown on government buildings.

In schools, the day is observed with age-appropriate lessons on the residential school system, the legacy of colonization, and the role of education in reconciliation. Some schools invite residential school survivors to share their stories; others organize classroom projects, art installations, or community service activities. The Orange Shirt Society distributes shirts and educational materials to schools and community organizations across Canada.

Public status

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a federal holiday for federal employees and a statutory holiday in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. In Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces, the day is recognized as a day of observance but not a paid statutory holiday. Many provincial employees in those provinces receive the day off, and many employers in the private sector treat the day as a holiday even where it is not statutorily required.

Related observances

The day is part of a broader pattern of reconciliation-related observance in Canada, including the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Air India Bombing (June 23), Remembrance Day (November 11), and Indigenous Peoples Day (second Monday of October). The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, located at the University of Manitoba, maintains the National Residential School Student Death Register and is the primary repository for survivor testimony and records.

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• nctr.ca, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
• orangeshirtday.org, Orange Shirt Day.
• rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• nctr.ca, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report.