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The Survivors’ Flag, bright orange with a white circular Indigenous design at the center, waves from a flagpole against a clear blue sky. The flag symbolizes remembrance, resilience, and honour for residential school survivors and victims in Canada.

An invitation to all parishes of the Anglican Church of Canada

Published on 
September 18, 2025

Dear friends in Christ,

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report and 94 Calls to Action. With strong support from the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, I invite all Anglican parishes in Canada to display the Survivors’ flag as a sign of awareness, acknowledgement and respect for residential school survivors, their families and communities.

At Sacred Circle in August, a survivor’s story planted the seed of this initiative in my heart. She described a ceremony she had attended a few years earlier at a corporate headquarters where a Survivors’ flag was raised. As the invited Elder, she opened the event with prayer, drumming, singing and smudging, honouring both the survivor raising the flag and the flag itself. She felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit and was deeply moved by the respect shown by non-Indigenous participants. In that moment, she asked, “If a large corporation can do this, why can’t our churches?” From that question, the vision of a Survivors’ flag in every Anglican church was born—a symbol of recognition, respect and hope.

The Survivors’ flag, now displayed inside Church House, bears witness to stories of survival and hope, reminding us of our commitment to reconciliation.

Like other symbols of inclusion and welcome, the presence of a Survivors’ flag (or even the image of one) announces that your parish is a place of safety, healing, understanding and reconciliation. Survivors’ flags are available in different sizes and formats from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, supporting education programs and survivor initiatives. To help bring to life the vision of a Survivors’ flag in every Anglican church, each diocesan cathedral will receive a flag this month. You can continue this work by displaying a flag in your parish, honouring survivors and their families and showing your commitment to reconciliation.

Education and prayer are part of our journey of right relationship. In addition to displaying the Survivors’ flag, I encourage you to learn about its significance and about the history of the residential schools. You will find prayer resources on anglican.ca.

When your parish displays a Survivors’ flag, please take a photo, send it to [email protected] and consider posting it online. Sharing these images publicly will encourage others to join in and strengthen our collective commitment to reconciliation.

Yours in the reconciling love of Christ,

[signed] +Shane
The Most Reverend Shane Parker
Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada

Acknowledging the land and God’s creation

This acknowledgement is crafted in light of the Principles of Reconciliation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, as we seek to live faithfully in Christ and in right relationship with all. 

We give thanks to the Creator for this land, its waters, forests and all living beings, and for the abiding presence of Christ among us. From coast to coast to coast, these have been cared for and nurtured by First Nations, Inuit and Métis through countless generations. 

We honour the enduring relationship Indigenous Peoples have cultivated with these lands and waters, and the treaties and agreements that reflect these sacred bonds. We acknowledge the harms caused by colonial expansion, through frameworks like the Doctrine of Discovery and structures like the residential school system. We recognize our past failures as a Church, including disruption of connections to the land and suppression of Indigenous spiritualities. 

Guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we confess our need for healing. We commit ourselves to seeking truth, pursuing reconciliation and nurturing harmony with all creation. We place our trust in Christ, through whom all things are reconciled to God. 

May God strengthen us to live faithfully as stewards of the Earth. Let us walk in love, justice and reconciliation, joining in God’s work to restore all creation.