More people aware of residential school harms but work still needed, report finds

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Research suggests public awareness of past harms from residential schools has increased but more work needs to be done educating Canadians on lasting effects of the institutions.

In a report released Wednesday, researchers from the University of Manitoba, University of Victoria and Toronto Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, measured the progress of non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples in their shared journey toward reconciliation in 2022.

The latest Canadian Reconciliation Barometer report is based on data from a poll Leger conducted in August 2022 that surveyed 3,174 people (1,034 Indigenous and 2,140 non-Indigenous) in six regions across the country through an online questionnaire.

This is the second year the group has tracked reconciliation awareness. However, the report notes that 2022 poll respondents were not recruited from the same provider as in 2021, meaning "changes year-over-year do not reflect the evolving views of the same people," it says.

The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, also says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

The 2022 survey found 90 per cent of non-Indigenous respondents and 94 per cent of Indigenous respondents had read or heard about residential schools. Both of those numbers are up from the 2021 findings (65 per cent and 87 per cent respectively).

"Indigenous Peoples have unquestioningly been sounding the alarm bell, really, since the dawn of time in this country, about the challenges the Canadian state is creating for the full enjoyment of the rights of Indigenous Peoples," said Ry Moran, a Métis researcher on the project and associate university librarian-reconciliation at the University of Victoria.

"The fact that we're seeing some greater consensus emerge is perhaps reflective of the fact that people, especially non-Indigenous Canadians, are starting to understand a little bit better where we're at."

Moran said this is likely due to a few factors: widespread publicity of unmarked burial sites at several former residential schools; a visit to Canada last year by Pope Francis, who apologized for harms at the schools; and the federal government opting to make Orange Shirt Day the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

An estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend the government-funded, church-run schools, which were largely overseen by the Catholic Church.

An estimated 6,000 Indigenous children died at the institutions, while many experts believe the number to be higher. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has recorded the names of more than 4,000 who died.

Respondents in the survey said they were more aware of past and ongoing harms in 2022 than in the previous year.

Researchers said this is hopeful, but an ongoing focus on education is important because awareness is only the start of the journey.