National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2024

Each year, September 30th 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. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. This federal statutory holiday was created through legislative amendments made by Parliament.

Irish in BC are honoured to recognise this day and to be able to work within the ancestral and traditional territory of the Coast Salish nations: Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Please see below for additional resources and events to help you recognise the day, and to promote truth and reconciliation throughout the year.


Attend Virtual or In-Person Events across BC

Find other events near you by following hashtag #NDTR on social media!


Orange Shirt Day

Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30th. Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.
The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. The campaign’s founder, Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, is a former St. Joseph Mission Residential School student and survivor. On her first day at residential school, her shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, was taken from her as a six-year old girl.Read her full story here: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html


Understand the History


Understand Reconciliation


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