Each year on September 30th in Canada marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

September 30, 2021, marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day that coincides with Orange Shirt Day.

Orange Shirt Day was first honoured in 2013, by the founding non-profit organization, the Orange Shirt Society.

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Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on September 30th to honour Residential School Survivors and their families, and to remember those who did not make it.

It was initially envisioned as a way to keep the conversations going about all aspects of Residential Schools in Williams Lake and the Cariboo Region of British Columbia, Canada.

It has now expanded into a movement across Canada and beyond.

Orange Shirt Day was inspired by the story of a Residential School Survivor named Phyllis Webstad.

When Phyllis was six years old she went to an Indian Residential School for the first time wearing a brand new “shiny orange shirt” bought by her Grandmother.

When she arrived at the school her shirt was taken away, never to be worn again.

To Phyllis Webstad, the colour orange symbolized that she did not matter.

Today, she has learned to accept the colour, and even have fun with it, and now the orange shirt has instead become a symbol of hope and reconciliation.

By wearing an orange shirt on Orange Shirt Day we make a statement that EVERY CHILD MATTERS.

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Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) provided those directly or indirectly affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools system with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences.

Some 150,000 Indigenous children were removed and separated from their families and communities to attend residential schools.

While most of the 139 Indian Residential Schools ceased to operate by the mid-1970s, the last federally-run school closed in the late 1990s.

In May 2006, the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement was approved by all parties to the Agreement.

The implementation of the Settlement Agreement began in September 2007 with the aim of bringing a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools.