For more than two hundred years, religious orders run mission schools for Indigenous children -
the precursors to the government of Canada's residential school system.
The Mohawk Institute becomes a boarding school.
Run by the Anglican Church, it is the first government-funded residential school in Canada.
A government report recommends Indigenous children be separated from
their parents in order to assimilate them into Western culture.
These recommendations influence federal laws and policies designed to strip
Indigenous people of their culture and rights.
Île-à-la-Crosse opens in northern Saskatchewan. The majority of students are Métis.
The government takes authority over Indigenous people and education for First Nations.
The Indian Act gives the Canadian government control over Indigenous rights and culture.
The Act includes only First Nations as Status Indians it excludes Métis and Inuit.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald authorizes the creation of the
residential school system, which is designed to isolate Indigenous children
from their families and cut all ties to their cultures.
The number of schools across Canada quickly climbs to over forty.
The government of Canada requires First Nations children aged 7 to 16 to attend residential school.
Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce exposes the government's neglect of Indigenous children's health,
including alarmingly high death rates of residential school students.
More than 80 institutions are in operation across Canada - the most at any one time.
Four students are investigated for arson. Others reportedly cheer as they watch the school burn.
This is one of dozens of fires set by students across Canada as a form of resistance.
Inuit children are officially included in the residential school system.
Six schools open in the Western Arctic as the government takes over
the administration of many church-run residential schools.
Grollier Hall and Stringer Hall open in Inuvik housing 500 students.
More than 20,000 Indigenous children are taken from their families by government
social workers and placed in foster care or adoption homes, often with non-Indigenous families.
Adoptees lose connection with their Indigenous language, culture, and identity.
Twelve-year-old Chanie Wenjack dies after escaping from the Cecilia Jeffrey
residential school. A formal investigation follows.
The all-white jury finds that residential schools caused tremendous emotional and psychological problems.
The Canadian government takes over responsibility for the remaining schools from the churches.
Thousands of Indigenous students are enrolled at the 28 residential schools that are still running in Canada.
Phil Fontaine head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, speaks publicly of the abuse he suffered at
Fort Alexander Indian Residential school. He calls for a public inquiry
which the federal government initiates in 1991.
Gordon's residential school is the last federally run school to close.
The report recommends a public inquiry into the effects of residential schools, including
language loss and trauma.
The government provides compensation to survivors, including the Common Experience Payment
and a focus on funding and supporting Indigenous health and healing services.
The Agreement establishes funds for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or the TRC.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes to former students, their families and
communities for Canada's role in the operation of residential schools.
Provincial and territorial apologies follow in the years ahead.
After hosting events across Canada the TRC releases a summary of its findings it includes 94 calls to action
aimed at redressing the legacy of residential schools and assisting in the process of Canadian reconciliation.
The new centre holds a permanent archive of materials and testimonies
on residential schools gathered during the TRC.
The TRC characterizes Canada's treatment of Indigenous people as "cultural genocide".
Thousands of children died due to Canada's residential school system.
More than 80,000 survivors and their families still live with its legacy.
"Many people have said over the years 'Why can't you just get over it and move on?'
And my answer has always been, why can't you always remember this?
And until people show that they have learned from this, we will never forget."