The Anglican Church of Canada Logo

Reconciliation and right relations today

For decades, the Anglican Church of Canada has been on a journey of listening, truth-telling, repentance and healing with Indigenous Peoples, both within and outside the Church. This work continues to call us toward accountability, justice and renewed relationships grounded in dignity and respect.

Also in Truth and reconciliation

“Reconciliation is not about being a spectator.”

The Honourable Murray Sinclair

This page outlines the key frameworks guiding reconciliation work today, the Church’s responses over time and practical resources to support learning, worship and action.

Skip ahead to tools for worship and action

Frameworks that guide our commitments

Commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada address the media. Left to right: Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr. Marie Wilson, Chief Wilton Littlechild.
TRC Commissioners Justice Murray Sinclair, Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild address the media in July 2015.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) documented the history and legacy of residential schools, gathered testimonies from survivors and issued the 94 Calls to Action in 2015. These Calls continue to guide learning, advocacy and right relations across the Church and the country. Several Calls name churches directly, while others address education, justice, child welfare, language and cultural revitalization.

UNDRIP affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples to culture, language, identity, land and self-determination. The Anglican Church of Canada affirmed UNDRIP at General Synod 2010 and continues to recognize it as a foundational framework for reconciliation and justice.

Learn more about UNDRIP

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls documented systemic causes of violence and issued 231 Calls for Justice. These Calls highlight the need for broad changes across social, legal, cultural and economic systems. They also shape the Church’s commitment to safety, dignity and right relations.

Read the Calls for Justice (PDF)

Church-led responses and commissions

Drummers and marchers walk through the streets of Ottawa in May 2015 during the Walk for Reconciliation, which kicked off the closing ceremonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Drummers and marchers walk through the streets of Ottawa in May 2015 during the Walk for Reconciliation, which kicked off the closing ceremonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Matt Gardner

In 2015, the Anglican Church of Canada joined several other churches in an ecumenical statement responding to the TRC’s findings and Calls to Action. The statement acknowledged shared responsibility for the legacy of residential schools and affirmed ongoing commitments to healing, justice and right relations.

The Primate’s Commission was created to examine how Church structures and practices reflected ongoing impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery, and to identify pathways toward reconciliation and justice grounded in UNDRIP and the TRC Calls to Action. Its work continues to shape the Church’s commitments today, including:

Established by the Council of the General Synod in 2018, the Jubilee Commission was mandated to propose a just, sustainable and equitable funding base for a self-determining Indigenous Anglican Church. This included examining historic and current funding patterns, reviewing property-related questions and considering ways to support equitable access to ministry resources. The goals of the Commission remain an important part of ongoing conversations about self-determination and resourcing within the Church.

The Vision Keepers are a national council of Indigenous elders and youth established to help the Church honour its commitments to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Confirmed as a permanent forum by General Synod in 2019, Vision Keepers offer guidance on governance, education, anti-racism, youth engagement and the development of the self-determining Indigenous Anglican Church.

Tools for worship and action

These tools support worship, reflection and concrete steps you can take in your community.

Worship

Taking action

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.