Churches make collective gift toward fostering reconciliation

Three Canadian denominations have taken another step towards reconciliation with Indigenous people.

At a June 18 gifting ceremony here in Winnipeg, the United, Anglican and Presbyterian churches made a collective gift of $1.5 million towards the construction of a new permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus.

In so doing, they were following up on the four calls to action for Canadian churches from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report.

One of them, call No. 59, asked churches that were involved in operating residential schools to support ways to help members of their congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization and residential schools.

To date, $92.5 million has been contributed for the centre’s new home, which will cost $100 million. Of that total, $60 million has come from the federal government. Construction is set to start next year.

“Once complete, our new home will be much more than a building,” said Shasta Chartrand, who directs communications for the NCTR.

“It will serve as a state-of-the art research centre dedicated to uncovering and sharing the true history of Canada’s residential school system, a sacred space for survivors and families to heal, and an international learning lodge to ensure these truths are never forgotten.”

The gift from the three denominations is a “tangible step toward accountability and acknowledgment of the churches’ historic responsibilities in operating the residential school system and the profound, ongoing harm it caused,” she added.

Michael Blair, general secretary of the United Church of Canada, attended the gifting ceremony on behalf of that denomination.

For the United Church, the gift was appropriate because of its involvement in running 15 residential schools in Canada, because of its support for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and due to its “commitment to continue the journey of reconciliation,” he said.

It was also a way for the Church to live into its 1986 apology to Indigenous people for its involvement in colonization in Canada, and its 1998 apology for its involvement in residential schools, he added.

For Blair, the donation will help towards the creation of a “proper home and a place where both Indigenous Canadians and settler Canadians can come and learn and experience that particular chapter in the life of the Canadian experience and build their capacity for the work of reconciliation.”

The Presbyterian Church in Canada operated 12 residential schools. In his remarks at the gifting ceremony, Victor Kim, principal clerk for the Church, said: “We recognize that the truth about what has happened must be told and that the generations that come after us must have access to the stories, documents, and resources that bear witness to this painful truth.”

Through the gift, Canadian Presbyterians are upholding their “commitment to honouring our relationship with Indigenous people,” he said, adding it also reflects the letter and spirit of the apology the denomination made in 2025 for its complicity in colonization and the residential school system.

The establishment of the permanent home for the NCTR “will ensure that these stories are not lost and that future generations may learn to make better, more faithful choices,” he shared.

The Anglican Church of Canada operated about 36 residential schools. In a statement, it said it is “deeply honoured to contribute to this home for remembrance, education and healing as part of our commitment to reconciliation and to meaningful action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.”

Andrea Mann is general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada. In an interview in the Anglican Journal, she said her church’s donation was “a wonderful invitation for us to contribute to something more long-standing, more future-oriented and hopeful for the world far beyond the world of the church.”

Roman Catholic entities in Canada operated 64 residential schools. That church was not part of the gifting ceremony in June, but the NCTR is in discussions with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops about how they might make a contribution.

With over four million records, the NCTR has the world’s largest collection of materials on the history and impact of Canada’s residential school system — many of which can’t be easily viewed or accessed due to lack of space. The NCTR has identified 23 million additional records it expects to receive in the coming months and years.

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