What is the role of Indigenous peoples in Canadian reconciliation?

Reconciliation in Canada is the long-term work of repairing the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state, with a focus on addressing the harms caused by residential schools, treaty breaches, and the broader colonial legacy. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Justice Murray Sinclair with Commissioners Marie Wilson and Wilton Littlechild, ran from June 2008 to December 2015 and issued 94 Calls to Action.

The 94 Calls to Action are addressed to federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, churches, schools, healthcare systems, the legal profession, the media, sports bodies, and the corporate sector. They cover child welfare, education, language and culture, health, justice, and the broader relationship between Canadians and Indigenous peoples. Annual progress reports are published by the Yellowhead Institute and the Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

Specific reconciliation milestones include the federal government's adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in June 2021, the Pope's apology delivered at Maskwacis, Alberta on July 25, 2022, and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, observed every September 30 since it became a federal statutory holiday in 2021. Orange Shirt Day, started by survivor Phyllis Webstad in 2013, takes place the same day.

Reconciliation also runs through Indigenous-led initiatives such as land acknowledgements at public events, the recognition of treaty territories, the work of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (which reported in 2019), and the negotiation of self-government agreements like the Nisga'a Final Agreement of 2000 and the Tla'amin Final Agreement of 2016. New Canadians are invited to participate by learning the histories of the lands where they live.