September Events
Each year, September 30 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.
Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30.
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.
On September 30, we encourage all Canadians to wear orange to honour the thousands of Survivors of residential schools." Government of Canada
"Eighteen-year-old Terry Fox of Port Coquitlam, BC never saw himself as remarkable. Granted, he displayed an unusual determination to achieve the goals he set for himself but his orbit was local – family, school, sports and friends. But Terry’s cancer diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma just above the knee, the subsequent amputation of his leg and experience in the cancer wards changed all that. A newly nurtured reservoir of compassion, combined with a fierce determination to bring an end to the suffering cancer causes, set Terry on a path that, quite simply, changed the world."
(Photo and Information - The Terry Fox Foundation