National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Not to be confused with Day of Reconciliation or Reconciliation Day.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation
Banners advertising Orange Shirt Day flying in Williams Lake, BC – a city located within T'exelc (Williams Lake First Nation territory)
Also calledOrange Shirt Day
T&R Day
TypeNational
SignificanceNational day to recognize the effect of the Canadian Indian residential school system
DateSeptember 30
FrequencyAnnual
First time2013 (Orange Shirt Day)
2021 (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)
Started byPhyllis Webstad
Related toNational Indigenous Peoples Day

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (sometimes shortened to T&R Day) (NDTR; French: Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation), originally and still colloquially known as Orange Shirt Day (French: Jour du chandail orange),[1] is a Canadian day of memorial to recognize the atrocities and multi-generational effects of the Canadian Indian residential school system.[2] It occurs every year on September 30.

As of March 2023, NDTR is a statutory holiday for:[3][4]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established to document the effects of the residential school system, ran from 2008 to 2015, and concluded that the attempt to forcefully assimilate Indigenous communities was a cultural genocide.[12]

Orange Shirt Day was first established as a day of observance in 2013. The use of an orange shirt as a symbol was inspired by the accounts of Phyllis Jack Webstad, whose personal clothing—including a new orange shirt—was taken from her during her first day of residential schooling, and never returned.[13] The orange shirt is thus used as a symbol of the forced assimilation of Indigenous children that the residential school system enforced.

The day was elevated to a statutory holiday for federal workers and workers in federally-regulated workplaces by the Parliament of Canada in 2021,[14] and named "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation", in light of the claims of over 1,000 unmarked graves near former residential school sites.[15]

  1. ^ "Témoignages". Permanent Committee on Canadian Heritage, House of Commons of Canada. November 8, 2018. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Le Jour du chandail orange, en septembre, est une journée très importante qui gagne en popularité partout au pays.
  2. ^ Indian has been used because of the historical nature of the article and the precision of the name. It was, and continues to be, used by government officials, Indigenous peoples and historians while referencing the school system. The use of the name also provides relevant context about the era in which the system was established, specifically one in which Indigenous peoples in Canada were homogeneously referred to as Indians rather than by language that distinguishes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Use of Indian is limited throughout the article to proper nouns and references to government legislation.
  3. ^ "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – is it a paid holiday?". www.cfib-fcei.ca. September 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Indigenous business leader disappointed National Day for Truth and Reconciliation not a provincial holiday". CBC News. September 11, 2021. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Government of New Brunswick, Canada (September 22, 2022). "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to be observed on Sept. 30". www2.gnb.ca. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "The Employment Standards Code Amendment and Interpretation Amendment Act (Orange Shirt Day)". web2.gov.mb.ca. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation declared statutory holiday in Northwest Territories". Government of Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Government of Nunavut". www.gov.nu.ca. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  10. ^ "Province observes National Day for Truth and Reconciliation". www.princeedwardisland.ca. September 30, 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "Yukon legislature unanimously approves Truth and Reconciliation Day as stat holiday". Vancouver Is Awesome. November 24, 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  12. ^ "Residential School History - NCTR". nctr.ca. December 21, 2020. Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  13. ^ "Phyllis' Story". September 25, 2020. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference A1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).