Residential Schools in Canada

The IRSSS counselling team supports emotional, mental, and spiritual development, along with healing and recovery, through culturally-based values and guiding principles for Survivors, families and communities.

From an Indigenous perspective, this free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.

The KUU-US Crisis Line Society provides a First Nations and Indigenous specific crisis line available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, toll-free from anywhere in British Columbia.

Crisis Lines:

• Adult/Elder Line: 250-723-4050
• Child/Youth Line: 250-723-2040
• BC Wide Toll Free:1-800-KUU-US17  (1-800-588-8717)
• Métis Crisis Line: 1-833-MétisBC (1-833-638-4722)

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for more than 19 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential School System and subsequent Sixties Scoop on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote healing and Reconciliation.

Community Health and Wellness at Yúustway Health is offering support for Squamish Nation Members: 604-982-0332 or wellness@squamish.net.

The National Student Memorial Register was created to forever remember and honour the children who never returned home from residential schools. The development of this memorial register is the result of work by countless people and the advice, guidance and blessings from Survivors, Elders and Knowledge Keepers.

"Non-Indigenous people — here’s what you can do, right now: 7 ways to support Indigenous people grieving in wake of news about 215 children."
by Anna McKenzie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter and Jacqueline Ronson

IndigiNews, June 2 2021.

The Royal BC Museum's curated collection of books, videos, images, and numerous resources relating to Residential Schools.

CBC researched the progress of each Call to Action, by reaching out to relevant governments, faith groups, professional and community organisations for comment.  They also cross-referenced federal funding announcements with actual and past financial expenditures.

A short video from award-winning Cree and Lakota author and educator Monique Gray Smith: "I share tips on both talking to kids about Residential Schools, but also how to prepare yourself as the adult to have these conversations. The video is for parents, grandparents, educators...anyone really with children in their lives. Also included are a number of author tips of books to read, podcasts, etc to deepen and continue your learning."

Documents the history of the United Church’s Indian Residential Schools in Canada, with pictures. This project was initiated by the Church’s Steering Committee on Residential Schools, comprised of Survivors from different residential schools across Canada and of United Church leaders and staff. It is intended as a form of repatriation to First Nations communities and recognition that the United Church has  responsibility to engage in truth-telling about the Church’s role in the residential school system and in colonialism in general.

The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC addresses the colonial legacy of residential schools and other policies imposed by the Canadian government on Indigenous Peoples, and ensures that this history is acknowledged, examined and understood within the UBC community.

Documentary film, 48m46s.

Yúusnew̓as is a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh community-led project to research and document the residential school experiences of our stélmexw (people). Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw is the lead community for the archival and land-based research into the former St. Paul’s Residential School. The site is located on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territory in North Vancouver and we are working closely with səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Indian Band. Other communities also attended this school while it was open from 1899 until it was shut down in 1959.