Former Indian Residential Schools - Environmental Scan: Status of Sites and Buildings

Purpose

The purpose of the report is to provide an overview on the findings of an IRS Environmental Scan conducted in 2022-2023 of the current condition, jurisdictional ownership, and complexities related to residential school buildings and sites.

Context

The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement was the result of a national class action litigation on behalf of former students of the Indian Residential Schools system. Implementation of the Settlement Agreement began on September 19, 2007 and addresses the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools. The list of 140 recognized Indian residential schools (often called federal hostels in northern Canada) by province and territory can be found on the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement website. Information about other institutions requested to be added to the Settlement Agreement through Article 12 is also available.

On May 27, 2021, Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation in British Columbia announced that a search by ground penetrating radar located unmarked burials of children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. This was a confirmation of known stories for Indigenous peoples, and a tragic reminder of the history and legacy of residential schools.

Following this confirmation, federal departments deployed efforts to support communities, Survivors and families. On August 10, 2021, Canada announced $321 million to enable Indigenous-led, Survivor-centric and culturally informed initiatives and investments to help Indigenous communities respond to and heal from the ongoing impacts of residential schools and in direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC's) Calls to Action 72-76:

• $83 million added to CIRNAC's Residential School Community Support fund for searches of burial sites and commemorate the children who died at residential schools (an additional $122 million over 3 years was announced in Budget 2022).
• Creation of a National Advisory Committee, to advise Indigenous communities and the government about work to find and identify the children.
• $9.6 million to support initiatives that commemorate the history and ongoing legacy of residential schools including activities marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• $20 million for a national monument in Ottawa to honour Survivors and children taken from their families and communities.
• Appointment of a Special Interlocutor to make recommendations related to federal laws, regulations, policies and practices surrounding unmarked and undocumented graves and burial sites at residential schools.
• $107.3 million in 2021-22 to increase access to trauma informed health and cultural support services and expand access to ensure all First Nations and Inuit are eligible for these supports in 2021-22 (renewed in Budget 2022 for an additional two years).
• $100.1 million over 2 years starting in 2021-22 to help communities begin to address on-reserve school buildings and associated sites that were once used for residential schools. This includes community engagement activities, site clean-up and remediation, building demolition, renovations to existing buildings and the construction of new facilities to accommodate services currently being held in these buildings on reserve.

To further support Survivors and communities in addressing the legacy of residential schools, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) undertook the IRS Environmental Scan in 2022-2023.  The IRS Environmental Scan includes contemporary information on location, ownership, and condition of residential school buildings and sites building on publicly available data sets (Orlandini, 2018) and publicly available information.

Limited engagement was conducted with key partners such as the NCTR, provinces and territories, other federal departments, academic and Indigenous technical experts and researchers, and some partnership tables. The NCTR also provided Survivor-first considerations to support co-development of any local or national engagement concerning future use or protection of former Indian residential school sites and buildings.

Through its regional offices, ISC reached out in 2022 to all 52 First Nations who had residential schools on their reserves. This engagement provided the department with a contemporary understanding of First Nation use of existing former residential school buildings that many First Nations inherited from the federal government when the residential schools ceased to operate.

Unlike the on reserve sites, less is known about the status of residential school sites located off-reserve and in the North. Many sites are now owned by various federal, provincial, territorial, municipal or Indigenous governments, churches, or private entities. Most former residential school buildings still in use are leased for a variety of public and private purposes.

It is acknowledged that some of the 140 residential schools had more than one location during their operation resulting in approximately 174 unique site locations. The focus of the IRS Environmental Scan was on the last site of each residential school. Available previous site locations information was also collected. Some residential schools operated for short periods; others closed in the early 1900s.

This report is part of a broader strategy to improve accessibility to information relevant to former residential schools. For example, ISC's IRS Mapping Application uses site location data provided by the NCTR (Orlandini, 2018) and layers it with Government of Canada Open Data (First Nation and Inuit Communities, reserve boundaries, and historical aerial photography provided by Natural Resources Canada). In addition to the collection of geospatial data to situate and provide historical context to the residential school sites, the application has search, filtering, measurement, and print tools to assist users with analysis or the creation of their own maps.

Data considerations

• The term 'residential school site' refers to the property that the main Indian residential school or federal hostel buildings were located on. Following the same methodology as Rosa Orlandini (2018), a residential school was considered to have a separate site if it expanded or moved to a location/property more than five kilometers away.
• Sites were considered to be on reserve if the point of the main school building was within the boundaries of a reserve.
• The IRS Environmental Scan takes an open data approach to the collection of information, and as such is disclosed without any terms or conditions governing their use.
• The information compiled for the IRS Environmental Scan is gathered from publicly available sources. This includes newspaper articles, public archives, community/survivor organization websites, public mapping tools (e.g. Aboriginal Treaty Right Information System (ATRIS), land title mapping, community development maps, Google Map overlays), and research reports (e.g., NCTR narratives on each residential school). See Annex B for links to these sources.
• The dataset on which the IRS Environmental Scan is based with more detailed information may be requested by contacting IRS-ISC.PI-SAC@sac-isc.gc.ca.

Scope and research caveats

• Institutions: The project gathered information on the 140 institutions recognized in the IRSSA to better understand the current status of former Indian residential schools and federal hostels. Non-IRSSA schools, federal day schools, institutions in the Newfoundland and Labrador Anderson Settlement Agreement, federal hospitals and sanatoriums were out of scope.
• Land status changes during operating dates: The IRS Environmental Scan on the 140 IRSSA institutions focuses on what is known about each site when it closed as an Indian residential school. The geographic size of the grounds of many residential schools shifted over time especially those that operated over several decades or longer.  Some were initially centred around a church, then may have expanded as more buildings were constructed and lands added for agricultural purposes, with the footprint of many residential schools becoming smaller in 1960s and onwards when most became student residences. Details about the evolution of each site and associated buildings during their dates of operation as a federal Indian residential school are found in the historical narratives available via the NCTR's archival portal which include digital copies of available maps, surveys and plans.
• Land ownership status: Information on the current status of land ownership refers to the present-day status and type of ownership in 2022-2023, and not the ownership or condition of any buildings when the residential school closed. The Canadian common law/civil law concept of Property Law is used to conceptualize land and presumes who "owns" the land. It is acknowledged that land ownership within the IRS Environmental Scan may be considered to be a colonial construct.
• Land ownership and land titles:The information in the IRS Environmental Scan is based on GPS information to determine the type of ownership currently involved at each former residential school site (e.g. on reserve, private, public, mixed ownership). Identification of specific ownership of each former residential school location, e.g. the name of the owners for privately owned sites, was not undertaken. Many residential school properties off-reserve were subdivided after the operation of the residential schools ended, and sites may have a number of ownership types as well as multiple private owners. Land title searches would be needed for more specific ownership information, and the current GPS information would have to be converted to plan and lot numbers.
• Location precision: The location of former residential school buildings and whether they are on or off-reserve are based on the GPS data points of the main residential school buildings, as gathered by NCTR via Google Earth satellite imagery in 2015. The exact locations of the secondary school buildings (e.g. barns, out buildings, staff houses) have not been verified.
• Third party interests: Third party interests in former residential school sites have not been identified, such as right of ways or easements for utility or transportation corridors through the properties, lease-holds, liens or other encumbrances from third parties.
• Provincial/territorial jurisdiction: The precise jurisdictional role for provincial and territorial governments with respect to former residential school sites located off-reserve requires further research in some cases. Even where sites have no provincial ownership, there may still be a provincial role. For example, provincial roadway repair may be needed for roads that cross former residential school sites.
• Modern treaties: The dynamic of land ownership and land management of particular former residential school sites within modern treaty areas is unique to each agreement. In some cases, ownership of buildings lies with a Hamlet or municipality, but the management of the land is through a land corporation. Every agreement manages their land differently.
• Buildings: On some sites with no remaining former residential school buildings, new buildings or structures may have built on the former school grounds. Specifics on usage of non-residential school buildings built on former residential school sites are out of scope for the current project. Data is also limited on locations of foundations or other underground infrastructure (e.g. utility pipes, fuel tanks) when buildings were covered over when they were demolished. Historical details about buildings are available through the research narratives for each residential school accessible through the NCTR's archival portal.
• Law: The IRS Environmental Scan does not include information on how Western laws apply to former residential school sites (i.e., federal, provincial/territorial and municipal) or how sites relate to Indian Act band council resolutions, UNDRIP Free Prior and Informed Consent, Constitution Act Section 35 and the Duty to Consult. In addition, the IRS Environmental Scan does not contain information on Indigenous laws, including ceremonies and protocols, that would apply to former residential school buildings and sites.
• Community/cultural connections: The scan does not include information related to the communities impacted by residential schools and their cultural connections to these buildings and sites. It does not include information on commemoration of these sites, or survivor organizations.
• Publicly accessible data and community privacy: The information collected in the IRS Environmental Scan is from publicly available sources, and care has been taken to only use reliable and credible sources of information. The goal is to offer access to common public data and information, understanding that researchers, including communities and survivors, are seeking information related to former residential school sites and buildings.
• Updates: Site and building information is continually evolving, especially from community engagement. The IRS Environmental Scan database will be updated as new information is received.

Definitions

Overview

The findings are based on the data available as of December 2023; findings may change as more information becomes available. The 140 former residential schools recognized in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement occupied a total of 174 sites, with 76 located on reserve and 98 off-reserve. Of the 140 residential schools, 34 were located North of 60, and 106 were South of 60. A summary of the IRS Environmental Scan findings is provided below.

Land tenure

• Off-reserve sites, there are 25 wholly privately owned, 8 fully or partially on federal Crown land, 5 fully or partially owned by Indigenous entities, 17 on provincial or territorial land, 39 where there is mixed ownership (by multiple jurisdictions), and 10 partially or fully church owned.
• The privately owned sites may contain instances where a First Nation has purchased land in anticipation of adding it to reserve land or for economic development purposes. These details will require title searches to determine specific ownership of the sites. As well, the private land category may have multiple private landowners for one site.
• There are currently eight sites that are associated with federal Crown lands. The residential schools (and their alternative names) and the custodial departments are:
  • Coqualeetza (Chilliwack), B.C. (CIRNAC)
  • St. George's (Lytton), B.C. (CIRNAC)
  • Brandon, MB, (site partially owned by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
  • Churchill Vocational Centre, MB (Transport Canada)
  • Cecilia Jeffrey (Kenora), ON (ISC)
  • Fort William (St. Joseph's), ON (CIRNAC)
  • McIntosh (Kenora), ON (ISC)
  • Pelican Lake (Pelican Falls), ON (ISC)
• Some of these Crown owned sites may eventually transition to reserve land (subject to an approved request via the Addition of Lands to Reserve and Reserve Creation Act).
• There are sites that are not entirely owned by the federal government but there may be a designation on or near the site (i.e. waterways, roadways and utilities), or there may have been a railway that crossed near the school. These specifics are not currently captured in the IRS Environmental Scan.
• There are ten sites that are owned or partially owned by a church entity. They are:
  • Fort Vermilion (St. Henri), AB - Roman Catholic
  • Grouard (St.Bernard's), AB - Roman Catholic
  • Lac La Biche (Notre Dames des Victoires), AB - Roman Catholic
  • Lesser Slave Lake (St.Peter's), AB - Anglican
  • Sacred Heart (Peigan), AB - Hutterite (not church denomination who operated the residential school)
  • St. Paul's (Squamish), BC - Roman Catholic
  • Hay River (All Saints, St. Peter's), NWT - Anglican
  • McKay (Dauphin), MB - Church of Christ (not church denomination who operated the residential school)
  • Shingwauk (Wawanosh), ON - Anglican
  • Thunderchild (St. Henri), SK - Roman Catholic
• There are four sites that have mixed ownership, that is, are not fully church owned. One of these is Fort Vermilion (St. Henri) - where the Roman Catholic Church owns a church parcel, while the courthouse is on lands administered by the Province of Alberta. The other three sites are: Grouard (St.Bernard's) - Roman Catholic, Hay River (All Saints, St.Peter's) - Anglican,  and Shingwauk (Wawanosh) - Anglican.
• Two sites (McKay and Sacred Heart) are owned in full or in part by a denomination that did not operate the residential school but were purchased later by church groups not affiliated with the original residential schools. Only seven of the 140 Indian residential schools are partially owned by the church that ran the residential school.

Building status

• Based on information available in 2023, 54 former residential school buildings at 34 sites are still in use. See Annex A, Table 2 for full list.
• Residential schools often had a number of buildings on the grounds.  Many had a prominent 2-3 storey main building that usually held administration, classroom and dormitory space with several outbuildings including staff residences, garages, barns, sheds, recreation spaces (e.g. outdoor rinks, pools) and other utility buildings. Some of the schools may have been demolished or burned down (fires destroyed many buildings while residential schools were operating) and rebuilt at different locations at the site.
• Buildings 'present and in use' off-reserve are sometimes used to provide programming that support Indigenous peoples or may otherwise be used by Indigenous peoples, but are not necessarily specifically for Indigenous community use. For example, Community Services offered at the former McKay school are for the people of Dauphin, Manitoba and are not culturally-based community services.
• On some sites with no remaining former residential school buildings, there may be building(s) built over top of the former school grounds after residential school buildings were demolished, or foundations may have been otherwise covered over.
• There may be buildings built on the site after residential school buildings were demolished. For example, the airport in Churchill Manitoba is built on the former site of the Churchill Residential School.

Text alternative for Illustration 1: Building map of the St. Joseph's Mission, courtesy of Williams Lake First Nation

The image shows the footprints of the various buildings that existed at different points of time, from 1949 to 2021, on the grounds of the former St. Joseph's Mission Residential School. The buildings are colour coded to represent what year they were constructed. Some of buildings that still exist as of 2021 include the modern school gymnasium, workers residence, cabins, and barns. The modern school day building, the modern school dorm and playrooms, girls and nuns dorms, sheds, carpentry and blacksmith shops still existed in the 1970s and some into the 1980s.

This map is an example of the multitude of buildings that were commonly associated with an Indian residential school. St. Joseph's Mission (also known as Cariboo Industrial School) operated from 1891 to 1981, about 10 kilometres south of Williams Lake First Nation's main residential reserve community. Typical of a large residential school in Western Canada, its grounds included 20-30 buildings constructed at different times including outdoor swimming pool and arena. More info can be found at: Williams Lake First Nation (wlfn.ca)

Historical designation

• Through the National Program of Historical Commemoration, Parks Canada and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board considers nominations for national historic designations. In 2020, the Residential Schools System was declared as a National Historic Event.
• To date, four former residential school sites that have been designated as national historic sites: The former Portage la Prairie Indian Residential School (Manitoba) and the former Shubenacadie Indian Residential School (Nova Scotia) were designated as national historic sites in September 2020. In July 2021, the former Shingwauk Indian Residential School (Ontario) and the former Muskowekwan Indian Residential School (Saskatchewan) were also designated as national historic sites.
• The former mission at Lac La Biche  (Notre Dames des Victoires), Alberta, and the Hay River Mission Sites are also part of other national historic sites but not as former residential schools.
• Several former residential school sites have provincial or territorial historic designations, including:
  • Holy Angels (Fort Chipewyan), Alberta
  • Lac la Biche (Notre Dame des Victoires), Alberta
  • St. Augustine (Smokey River), Albert (Provincial Historic Resource)
  • St. Joseph's (High River, Dunbow), Alberta (Provincial Historic Resource)
  • Kamloops (St. Louis), British Columbia
  • Battleford, Saskatchewan

Indigenous Services Canada

Since March 2022, ISC has undertaken limited engagement in support of the work of the IRS environmental scan, including:

• Engagement with 52 First Nations who had residential schools on their reserves.
• Limited engagement with provincial/territorial governments, academic and Indigenous technical experts and researchers, existing partnership tables, and through attendance at national and regional residential school gatherings.
• Commissioned the NCTR to prepare a report on engagement considerations and principles.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

The NCTR produced a report in 2023 for ISC called Creating an Engagement Plan with Indigenous Communities. The report includes a high-level discussion on the considerations and approaches when developing engagement plans with Indigenous peoples, communities, and Nations about the future use or protection of former residential school sites and buildings.

The report outlines the following principles for creating meaningful and relevant engagement planning.

• Indigenous-led: Indigenous peoples must be part of the process in developing the engagement plan.
• Survivor-led: Survivor voices must inform the entire engagement planning process.
• Diversity: One engagement plan will not be able to address all perspectives and all former school sites.  The diversity of Indigenous peoples and Survivors across Canada requires multiple processes to ensure diverse perspectives and experiences are included in overall engagement process.
• Collaboration: Collaboration means that Indigenous peoples are equal partners and are a part of generating ideas and making decisions at every stage of engagement planning.
• Capacity Transfer: Capacity transfer goes a step beyond capacity building in that it recognizes the capacity of the various groups and their ability to work with each other.
• Structure and flexibility: While structure and plans are important, it is much more important to value flexibility as each community will have different capacity and willingness to be engaged.
• Meaningful and relevant: Ensure that engagement planning is relevant and meaningful to the groups of peoples within the community.
• Respect and reciprocity: Respect can only be achieved if there are authentic interactions. Reciprocity can only be achieved if there is accountability.
• Effective communication: An effective communication strategy is not about having a one-size fits all plan, but asking people in community how to communicate, and how they prefer to receive information.
• Trauma informed and health supports: Health supports must be present at every stage of engagement planning and execution. Importantly, health supports must continue to be available after engagement processes.
• Ceremony: Ceremony is not something that happens once through a final outcome or commemoration but should be integrated throughout the relationship building and engagement planning process.
• Protocols: Protocols are integral to building relationships in a good way with Indigenous peoples.
• Free, prior and informed consent: FPIC as a part of UNDRIP will ground the process of planning engagement with Indigenous communities.

Residential Schools Mapping Network and Interactive Mapping Tool

ISC launched an informal mapping network in September 2022 for researchers and geomatic technicians from Indigenous entities, governments and academic institutions to share information on research, tools and data on former residential school sites. The Residential Schools Mapping Network provides a forum for discussing and coordinating with researchers on topics such as Indigenous Data Sovereignty, data collection, technical innovations, and mapping approaches. For more information about the Network, please contact ISC's Residential Schools Legacy Secretariat at: IRS-ISC.PI-SAC@sac-isc.gc.ca

Using NCTR's dataset, ISC's Geomatics Unit created an interactive residential school mapping tool containing all 174 IRS sites with layer filters for reserve land, treaties, land claim agreements and historic air photos (courtesy of the National Air Photo Library at Natural Resources Canada).

ISC is committed to ensuring that the IRS Environmental Scan data will be open-source and available to researchers, communities and Survivors, with the exception of data related to burial sites that communities do not want to publicize.

National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Burial Sites

In July 2022, CIRNAC and the NCTR announced a National Advisory Committee (NAC) to guide the implementation of Calls to Action 74-76. The NAC serves as an independent and trusted source of technical advice for communities in their efforts to locate, honour, memorialize or bring home children who died in residential schools.

The NAC brings together individuals with a wide-range of experience and expertise in areas such as Indigenous laws and cultural protocols, forensics, archeology, archival research, criminal investigations, communication and working with Survivors.

Cemetery Registry

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, through funding by CIRNAC, is leading the development of a Cemetery Register. This relates to Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action 73: "We call upon the federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children."

The development of the National Indian Residential School Online Cemeteries and Burial Sites Registry began during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Project. Survivors, families, and communities will decide what information they wish to share with the Government of Canada, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and other partners to document cemeteries and burial sites.

Special Interlocutor

The Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools will identify needed measures and make recommendations for a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children associated with former residential schools.

The Special Interlocutor's Interim Report (PDF), released in June 2023, highlighted the need for access to sites and affirming Indigenous Data Sovereignty. In particular, significant barriers exist for Survivors, Indigenous families, and communities to access sites to conduct ceremonies and searches, particularly where the sites are in the process of being redeveloped or are owned by corporations or private landowners. In some situations, federal, provincial, and municipal governments are not actively supporting Survivors, Indigenous families, and communities in obtaining access to the land or in protecting the sites.

Additionally, at the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples (APPA) on March 21, 2023, the Special Interlocutor called for a new legal framework to address gaps for the protection of burial sites and ensuring access to the grounds if the land is now privately held. The Office for the Special Interlocutor's Submission to UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples stated "the urgent need to document the complex history and current land ownership of burial and cemetery sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. Some sites are now privately owned, and others are endangered by land development projects." Additionally, it stated: "There are conflicts between Indigenous communities and governments over issues of jurisdictional control, ownership, and use of land."

Public sites

• Indigenous Services Canada - Indian Residential School Interactive Map
• Government of Canada - Directory of Federal Real Property | Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (tbs-sct.gc.ca)
• Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada - ISC & CIRNAC Map Room
• Indian Land Registry System - AANDC ILRS/AADNC ILRS -  Public Interface
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation - Residential School History
• Natural Resources Canada - Natural Resources Canada - Maps, Tools & Publications
• Algoma University - Algoma University Archives
• University of British Columbia - Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre - Collections
• University of Regina - History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan
• Williams Lake First Nation - St. Joseph's Mission School | Williams Lake First Nation (wlfn.ca)

Provincial and territorial land and property registries

• Manitoba - Manitoba Land Settlement Agreements Including TLE
• Alberta - Alberta Registries - SPIN2HOME
• Alberta - Resource guide for researching and recognizing residential school sites
• Saskatchewan - Saskatchewan Provincial Archives
• Saskatchewan - Sask Interactive Mapping
• Yukon - YUKON - GeoSpacial Map
• Ontario - OnLand Property Search
• Quebec - Registre foncier du Québec en ligne (gouv.qc.ca) (not available in English)

Residential Schools Mapping initiatives

A number of mapping initiatives involving former Indian residential schools sites are available online, including:

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
• University of British Columbia's Dialogue Centre on Residential Schools
• Carleton University Residential Schools Memory Atlas
• Canadian Geographic Paths to Reconciliation
• CBC's Residential Schools Map