Honouring a sacred commitment: more names verified for the National Student Memorial RegisterÂ
In September 2025, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), through our Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Initiative, has verified 1143 new names of children who died as a result of the residential school system for the National Student Memorial Register. Additionally, the names, dates of death, and school information for more than 1000 students have been updated through new research.
The National Student Memorial Register was created to forever remember and honour the children who died or never returned home from residential school. It is a crucial part of continuation of our work to fulfil the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action 72 and 73, which calls upon us to identify and commemorate the children who died or went missing from residential schools, and to locate their burial locations. 
Our research team has been searching Survivors statements, historical documents in our care and beyond, and information provided by community researchers and family members to confirm previously unverified student deaths.
When the Register was first launched in 2019, it was done after six months of consultation with Indigenous communities across the country. This work has continued through community outreach and engagement efforts, and in the summer of 2025, we distributed notifications to communities and national Indigenous organizations of the upcoming release of additional names. Our priority is, and has always been, to notify Survivors, families and communities before we announce additional names and information regarding student deaths to the public.  
The Memorial Cloth, a sacred item blessed and smudged by Elders, carries the names of many children listed in the National Student Memorial Register, and has also been updated to commemorate recent additions. At sixty metres in length, it is a vital, powerful part of our ceremonies to honour these precious lives. We will be walking the updated Memorial Cloth on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation/Orange Shirt Day in a procession during the live national broadcast of Remembering the Children on September 30th on Parliament Hill in respect of the children’s lives.
We will continue to verify and update the names of children in the National Student Memorial Register as research continues. Together, we will remember and honour the lost children. 
Quotes
Survivor and Elder Florence Paynter – “As Survivors, we carry the memory of the children who didn’t come home. For too long, they were just a number, an unmarked grave. But these were children with families who loved them. They were our friends, our classmates and our family members. The Register and Memorial Cloth ensures they are never forgotten.”
Survivor and Elder Levinia Brown – “When we were children, our truths were silenced. We were told to forget the friends who went missing, but we never did. By committing to finding their names, we are demonstrating that their lives mattered.”
Survivor and Elder Brian Normand – “Survivors will never forget. Finding the names of the children is a way for the country to never forget. This work helps to bring their spirits home so they can finally rest, and their families can begin to heal.”
Stephanie Scott, Executive Director for the NCTR – “The National Student Memorial Register and our commemorative Memorial Cloth were created to forever remember and honour the children who never returned home. These are the result of work done by countless people, and of the advice, guidance, and blessings from Survivors, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. With the addition of these names, we can continue our ongoing and tireless work to remember and honour the little ones.”
Raymond Frogner, Senior Research Director and Head of Archives for the NCTR – “Today Survivors will walk with self-respect and dignity; to know they are not alone; that they are respected and valued. Our ceremony revives these simple human truths, suppressed for generations by cruel colonial judgement. Today we say we see you, we hear you, and this cannot happen again.”
Background:
The Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Initiative aims to fulfil the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action 72 and 73, which call upon us to identify and commemorate the children who died or went missing from residential schools, and to locate their burial locations. 
To view the National Student Memorial Register, please visit: National Student Memorial Register – NCTR
To watch the live broadcast of Remembering the Children on September 30, 2025, tune into APTN, CBC Radio-Canada, the NCTR’s YouTube channel or other broadcast partners at 3:00 p.m. EDT.