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Each year, Sept. 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.
Although National Truth and Reconciliation Day is not a provincial statutory holiday in Ontario or Quebec, people working for a federally regulated company under the Canada Labour Code receive a paid holiday for the day.
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What’s open and closed in Ottawa
The City of Ottawa will close most of its services for the day.
However, municipal waste collection will operate as usual. Recreation and cultural facilities will also be open.
OC Transpo and Para Transpo will run as usual.
Seven Ottawa Public Library branches, including the downtown Main branch, will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to provide a “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Learning and Action Space.”
The others will be closed.
Municipally run child care centres, and Ottawa Public Health’s services will no operate for the holiday.
National museums are open and offering free admission for the day. The Ingineum trio of museums (aviation, agriculture, and science and technology) as well as the history and war museums will open as usual at 9 a.m. Monday. The National Gallery of Canada will open at noon.
Schools will be open Monday.
Most shopping centres will also be open.
Special events on Sept. 30
The fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will feature “Remembering the Children,” a 90-minute commemorative gathering at Parliament Hill, on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.
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The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Hosted by Earl Wood and Danielle Rochette, the event will feature personal reflections from Survivors, along with performances by Tom Jackson, Andrina Turenne, and Jessica Sparvier-Wells.
Attendees are invited to bring a pair of children’s shoes to place at the front of the stage, a symbolic act of honouring the Indigenous children who never made it home. Following the event, all footwear will be donated to charity.
For those unable to attend in person, Remembering the Children will be broadcast live on APTN and APTN Languages. Additionally, APTN National News will provide live streaming of the event in English, French, and Plains Cree.
The event will also be streamed by CBC on multiple platforms.
The Canadian Museum of History will feature the official inauguration of the Indian Residential School Memorial Monument, a massive red cedar sculpture created by Kwaguʼł master carver Stanley C. Hunt. The event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m., with the official ceremony at 6 p.m., followed by “self-guided” visits.
Organizers ask that visitors wishing to attend to sign up at the event webpage.
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