Statement on the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Missing Indigenous Children and Unmarked Graves

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) stands in solidarity with Survivors and strongly supports the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) for bringing international attention to the tragic human rights violations endured by Indigenous children subjected to Canada’s residential school system. The NCTR acknowledges the PPT’s preliminary statement, which highlights a systemic pattern of conduct, a clear lack of accountability, and strong indications of ongoing genocide. We commend the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and all those responsible for bringing these painful truths to light—most importantly, Survivors whose voices remain at the heart of this work.

For over a century, Survivors and Indigenous families have carried the heavy truth of the atrocities that took place at these schools, including the devastating reality that many children never returned home.

As the steward of millions of residential school records and thousands of Survivor statements, the NCTR holds the undeniable proof of these truths. The harm inflicted on Indigenous Peoples is deep, irreparable and continues to reverberate through families and communities today.

Ensuring clarity around the nature and accessibility of the residential school records entrusted to our care is vital to supporting communities in the search for answers and accountability. To this end, the NCTR offers the following additional context regarding some of the information shared during the tribunal.

• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) provided—and the NCTR continues to provide—an opportunity for Survivors to name their abusers. While public events such as sharing circles and panels were not structured for disclosing this sensitive information, Survivors were—and are— given the option to provide private statements. More than half of the 7,000+ statements securely held at the NCTR were gathered privately, providing Survivors with the opportunity to share these details if they chose. The NCTR continues this vital work of documenting Survivors’ truths, ensuring their perspectives are preserved as a permanent historical record.
• Both during the TRC and through the ongoing work of the NCTR, records have been—and continue to be—collected from more than 100 sources. This includes government records, church archives, community documents, and private collections that were never part of the public domain. While the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) primarily mandated records from federal and church entities, many provincial governments also provided critical documents, including death certificates, to aid in missing children research. And this work has not stopped. The NCTR is currently in active negotiations with over 50 of 183 identified sources to negotiate transfer of additional records to share with Survivors, families and communities.
• Access to these records belongs to Survivors and to Indigenous communities. To facilitate access, the NCTR has developed an unprecedented remote access system for Indigenous community researchers to securely access millions of records directly from their own communities. Additionally, we prioritize rush services for Survivors seeking copies of their own records. And while we understand the distress families face while waiting for their loved ones’ records, these requests can take longer to process. This is not a barrier to accessibility, but rather a reflection of our current capacity as we work diligently to respond to thousands of requests from across the country.
• Additionally, when communities and researchers access records through the NCTR, there are no restrictions on sharing the information found within those documents back with families. While privacy laws regulate the disclosure of physical copies, the NCTR utilizes proactive disclosure mechanisms specifically designed to accommodate and support this sacred community-led work.
• These realities—residential schools, day schools, Indian hospitals, child welfare removals, and violence against Indigenous women—are not separate stories. They are one interconnected system of colonial control. If these records are dispersed across government departments, universities, and provincial archives, the historical record becomes fragmented and more difficult to understand.
• The NCTR has the mandate, ethical and social protocols, purpose-built IT infrastructure, and a strong history of community engagement which positions us to act as the central repository to understand this systemic colonial program of erasure and genocide. For more than a decade, we have carried out this sacred work entrusted to us by Survivors. Creating separate repositories for components of this system would weaken the historical narrative, impede research, complicate legal and policy accountability, create additional barriers for families searching for answers, and risk inconsistent access rules and preservation standards.

The NCTR looks forward to reviewing the final judgement and advisory opinion of the PPT. In pursuing our shared goals, it is critical that we work together to document this history and demand accountability. By standing together, we ensure that the voices of Survivors and the memories of the children remain protected for generations to come.