Museums and archives
Learn how the Government of Canada is responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action 67 to 70.
Based on data provided March 2023.
- Call to action 69 is based on data provided October 2025.
67. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Museums Association to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to make recommendations.
What's happening?
Background
Canadian Heritage has provided funding to the Canadian Museums Association to support the implementation of Call to Action 67.
Recent budget
The Canadian Museums Association was provided a contribution of $680,948 for this multi-year project beginning in 2019.
Recent progress
With this funding, the Canadian Museums Association worked in collaboration with Indigenous peoples on a national review of museum policies and best practices to:
- determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- make recommendations
The final report and recommendations: Moved to Action: Report and Standards on Activating UNDRIP in Canadian Museums was published on September 27, 2022.
Next steps
With the publication of the report, Call to Action 67 is complete.
68. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, and the Canadian Museums Association to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017 by establishing a dedicated national funding program for commemoration projects on the theme of reconciliation.
What's happening?
Through the Canada 150 Fund, over $3.6 million was invested in 5 signature projects that include a strong focus on Indigenous communities, including 2 that are specifically designed to promote reconciliation amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada:
- Reconciliation Canada events to discuss reconciliation and explore perceptions and actions across Canada
- Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum for youth in Nunavut to create community video montages in a multi-language exhibition
- 4Rs Youth Movement for national and local gatherings to reach Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth
- Indspire for a cross-Canada speaking tour to celebrate achievements of exceptional Indigenous youth
- Music Yukon for a pan-territorial celebration that brought together artists and athletes in workshops and performances
In addition, $28.6 million has been invested in 248 community projects that contribute to celebrating Indigenous communities or reconciliation amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
The Canada 150 fund is now closed.
69. We call upon Library and Archives Canada to:
- Fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples' inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.
- Ensure that its record holdings related to residential schools are accessible to the public.
- Commit more resources to its public education materials and programming on residential schools.
What's happening?
Since 2013, Ādisōke (Ottawa Public Library joint facility with Library and Archives Canada, set to open in 2026) has evolved through collaborative planning between Library and Archives Canada, the Ottawa Public Library (OPL), and Indigenous partners—especially the Anishinābe Algonquin Nation, represented by Kitigan Zibi and Pikwàkanagàn communities. Their contributions have included guidance on building design, spatial layout, and naming—the facility itself being gifted the name "Ādisōke," meaning "the art of storytelling" in Anishinābemowin.
Since 2024, Library and Archives Canada has now shifted focus from the Ādisōke building construction phase towards the development of programs and services that are rooted in engagement and collaboration with Indigenous communities, particularly the Host Anishinābe Algonquin Nation, and in alignment with Library and Archives Canada's commitment to reconciliation.
Library and Archives Canada's Indigenous Services Strategy outlines that Indigenous engagement, programs, and services at Ādisōke will be guided by reconciliation as a core principle. These services will be offered throughout the building, not limited to the Indigenous circular lodge, and will be developed, implemented, and refined through ongoing collaboration with Indigenous Peoples. They will reflect the diversity of Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and communities across Canada, and will remain iterative, evolving over time in response to feedback from Indigenous communities.
In addition, Library and Archives Canada has developed a programming framework that highlights Indigenous voices, histories, and truths. Programming includes:
- Elders and Knowledge Keepers sharing their teachings and experiences
- historical themes addressing colonization, resistance, and key commemorative dates
- cultural programming showcasing Indigenous knowledge, languages, and arts
- explorations of Indigenous legal and governance histories
- presentations of Indigenous film and media
As efforts evolve, Library and Archives Canada builds on successful initiatives like Project Naming, the 2002 photograph identification and community engagement project. Recent activities test new approaches, strengthen partnerships, and gather insights to guide Ādisōke programming, informed by community feedback. Initiatives such as the Connection to Kith and Kin program with Vancouver Public Library and Indigenous genealogy workshops create inclusive spaces for learning and cultural exchange, while projects like The Knowing, developed with Anishinaabe journalist Tanya Talaga, explore family memory, colonial history, and the preservation of Indigenous voices.
In 2018, Library and Archives Canada convened an Indigenous Advisory Circle to advise the institution on various actions, protocols and projects, and the implementation of Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives. With funding received in 2021, a second iteration of the Indigenous Advisory Circle was established. Despite the sunsetting of the funding from 2021, the Indigenous Advisory Circle continues into 2025 due to Library and Archives Canada internally funding its continuance.
In April 2019, Library and Archives Canada launched the Indigenous Heritage Action Plan, a 5 year plan guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. Library and Archives Canada's plan was developed in consultation with the Indigenous Advisory Circle. Library and Archives Canada is drafting a new iteration of the Indigenous Heritage Action Plan that will also be developed in consultation with the Indigenous Advisory Circle.
The new plan will be a high-level strategy that will be accompanied by a detailed roadmap with concrete, measurable actions. A key element of the new strategy will relate to Indigenous Data Sovereignty. According to Priority 30 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, Library and Archives Canada will continue to support Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous-led data strategies through legislative, regulatory and policy options to help ensure that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis have the sufficient, sustainable data capacity they need to control, manage, protect, and use their data to deliver effective services to their peoples, tell their own stories, participate in federal decision-making processes on matters that impact them, and realize their respective visions for self-determination.
In addition, Library and Archives Canada developed 2 Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives in 2017 that support the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages and culture in Canada: We Are Here: Sharing Stories and Listen, Hear Our Voices. These initiatives were renewed in 2021 for a duration of 3 years, and were subsequently reprofiled to 2025.
These initiatives sunset at the end of March 2025, but the acquisition and preservation activities that took place have ensured enduring access to Indigenous documentary heritage.
This was not an acquisition project and did not involve the transfer of any ownership, copyright or intellectual property to Library and Archives Canada. All rights remain with the Indigenous communities.
Recent budget investments
Library and Archives Canada received $14.9 million over 4 years, beginning in 2021 and ending in 2025, to fund the projects Listen, Hear Our Voices and We Are Here: Sharing Stories, and support access to First Nations, Inuit and Métis documentary heritage. Library and Archives Canada established its Indigenous Initiatives Division to continue these initiatives and to ensure that they are led by Indigenous staff and are advised by its Indigenous Advisory Circle.
In its first 3 years of supporting community projects through the Listen, Hear Our Voices funding program, Library and Archives Canada provided:
- $2.3 million to 31 organizations in 2019 to 2020
- $739,000 to 19 organizations in 2020 to 2021
Library and Archives Canada provided another $2.3 million from 2022 to 2025 to support community projects through the Listen, Hear Our Voices funding program.
Library and Archives Canada received $25 million over 3 years through Budget 2022 to digitize and describe six million pages of records related to the Federal Indian Day School system. Through enhanced description and increased discoverability, this project seeks to ensure that Survivors and Indigenous communities have improved access to the historical records that provide a source of truth for Canada's collective effort of reconciliation.
Recent progress
The Day Schools Project is an initiative of Library and Archives Canada to digitize, describe and increase the discoverability of up to six million pages of archival materials related to the Federal Indian Day Schools and its legacy. The project, which began in 2022 and will conclude in February 2026, includes government records that contain textual material, photographs, maps and plans, which are fully searchable by keyword in LAC's public database, Collection Search. The project created enhanced file level descriptions to make it easier for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation Survivors, their families and researchers to find relevant information.
Since 2024, Library and Archives Canada has provided a dedicated Indigenous space for its employees. This space is used for staff for a quiet retreat, to attend hybrid Indigenous Employee Circle meetings, or for internal programming related to Indigenous cultural competencies.
In 2021, a working group developed an initial draft of cultural guidelines to inform Library and Archives Canada's day-to-day actions and substantive directions. The document, entitled "Indigenous Initiatives Recommendations: Submitted by the Indigenous Cultural Guidelines Working Group and the Indigenous Initiatives Division" was presented to the Indigenous Advisory Circle in 2024 and will inform part of the new version of the Indigenous Heritage Action Plan.
Since 2019, Library and Archives Canada has been working with Indigenous librarians and Knowledge Keepers to amend the language used to describe First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation published heritage material.
In 2024, Library and Archives Canada welcomed its first Visiting Elder. The Elder provides cultural support for employees and traditional teachings, cultural knowledge, and ceremonies that foster their identity and well-being. The Elder also provides mentorship and guidance to help employees navigate workplace challenges and personal development in a culturally supportive environment. In 2025, Library and Archives Canada has continued to facilitate the Elder residency.
The We Are Here: Sharing Stories initiative digitized and described Indigenous heritage content including over 590,000 images of archival and published materials related to First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation during the first phase of the project. With its most recent funding, the project's goal during the second phase was to digitize a further 450,000 images by 2024. The Initiative has surpassed this goal, digitizing 521,129 images as of the end of 2023 to 2024. We Are Here: Sharing Stories has increased digital access to the collection through online resources like Collection Search, enhanced records descriptions and coordinated transfers to specific Indigenous organizations and projects. It has uploaded 64,894 images to Library and Archives Canada's website in its second phase.
The Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative issued its fifth call in fall 2023 to identify projects that Library and Archives Canada can fund to support community-level digitization and preservation by First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations. The applications are reviewed with advice and guidance from an external committee of First Nations, Inuit and Métis professionals with expertise in documentary heritage, language revitalization, digitization, and cultural expression. In 2023, the initiative received 64 applications and Library and Archives Canada was able to support 28 projects totaling $1.8 million in the fiscal year of 2023 to 2024. In 2024, the initiative received 100 applications and Library and Archives Canada was able to support 14 projects totalling $1.19 million in the fiscal year of 2024 to 2025.
The Indigenous Initiatives Division has worked to raise awareness among Library and Archives Canada archivists and librarians to find new ways of working that are more aligned with reconciliation and decolonization. For example, We Are Here: Sharing Stories organized and delivered a workshop that included decolonizing archival practices within the institution.
As part of Library and Archives Canada's fulfillment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action 69, subsections ii and iii, the Web and Social Media Preservation Program curated the following:
- in August 2023, Library and Archives Canada re-launched the Government of Canada Web Archive (GCWA), our public facing discovery and access portal for preserved web resources. For the launch, Library and Archives Canada moved the Truth and Reconciliation Web Archive collection into the GCWA, which provided considerable improvements in curation, discovery by topic, and added powerful full text search.
- while curating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) collections, the program at Library and Archives Canada put added effort into documenting Indigenous cultural and historical events across Canada. This included the acquisition of Indigenous-owned web-based media, as well as the national media with respect to recent discoveries at residential schools. Together these Indigenous collections, independent of those for the TRC and MMIWG, comprise an additional 89 million assets and approximately 2 terabytes of data. These collections will be made available to the public on the Government of Canada Web Archive.
Next steps
Library and Archives Canada continues to engage with the Indigenous Advisory Circle and the Anishinābe Algonquin Nation, represented by Kitigan Zibi and Pikwàkanagàn communities to move forward with the development and piloting of specific programs and services for Ādisōke. A framework for evaluation and iteration based on feedback from Indigenous communities will be developed.
Library and Archives Canada will develop a new version of its Indigenous Heritage Action Plan, with an accompanying road map in 2025 and 2026. This new version of the plan will help to track progress on Call to Action 69. The plan will also establish Library and Archives Canada's position on Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
70. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Association of Archivists to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of archival policies and best practices to:
- Determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples' inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to human rights violations committed against them in the residential schools.
- Produce a report with recommendations for full implementation of these international mechanisms as a reconciliation framework for Canadian archives.
What's happening?
Library and Archives Canada is collaborating with the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives in fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action 70.
In September 2015, the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives established the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce with a mandate to address Call to Action 70. The taskforce is comprised of representatives from the archival community and Indigenous communities and organizations from across Canada.
The taskforce conducted an extensive review of archival policies and best practices, identifying potential barriers to reconciliation efforts between the Canadian archival community and Indigenous record keepers.
The taskforce then worked in collaboration with Indigenous communities, heritage professionals and organizations across Canada to develop an actionable response to this research, which will serve as the foundation for a reconciliation framework for Canadian archives.
To find out more on the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives response consult the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce.
Recent progress
In July 2020, the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives released the report required by Call to Action 70, subsection ii, under the title A Reconciliation Framework for Canadian Archives (PDF), for public consultation. Through the remainder of 2020 and in 2021, the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives worked to review the feedback received through public consultation and to refine the report to reflect this input.
The committee released its final report, the reconciliation framework, in February 2022. On March 10, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Association of Canadian Archivists voted unanimously to endorse the report.
Next steps
With A Reconciliation Framework for Canadian Archives published, this call to action is now completed.
Library and Archives Canada will continue to collaborate with the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives for the circulation and implementation of the reconciliation framework elements throughout the Canadian archival community.