Orange Shirt Day/ Every Child Matters

Orange Shirt Day in Edmonton will honour and bring awareness to the experiences of residential school students.

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event held in spring 2013 in Williams Lake, BC.

It grew out of a former student's account of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission. The orange shirt is meant to recognize the harm done to residential school students and to show a commitment to the principle that Every Child Matters!

A date in September was chosen because it is the time of year when children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools, and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.