Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund
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This website deals with topics that may cause trauma.
A National Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide mental health and emotional support services to former residential school students who are experiencing distress. It is operated by experienced and culturally sensitive counsellors and provides access to emotional and crisis referral services. You can also obtain information on how to access additional health supports from the Government of Canada.
Please call the Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 if you or someone you know is triggered while reading the content on this website.
We encourage all those who need some support at this time to reach out and know that support is always there for you through the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or the online chat at hopeforwellness.ca open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Support services are safe, confidential, respectful and non-judgmental.
Update:
In fiscal years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, adjustments will be made to how the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund (Community Support Fund) will be implemented. These adjustments will apply to new agreements and will not apply to previously signed agreements.
The adjustments were decided upon after careful review of community priorities as demonstrated in the nature and scope of funding proposals, the progress being made in currently funded initiatives, in consideration of feedback from funding recipients about how the Community Support Fund is being implemented, and in consideration of fundamental program objectives.
The adjustments, described in the Eligible initiatives, How the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund is delivered and Application deadline sections, are intended to:
- Sustain an equitable disbursement of funds such that as many communities as possible have access to funding and to focus on activities that are fundamental to identifying children that did not return from residential schools and locating unmarked burial sites associated with former residential schools.
- Support the progression of initiatives in a culturally sensitive and respectful manner on a continuum of activities from knowledge gathering to documenting and location of unmarked burial sites (field work).
The adjustments apply only in fiscal years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
On this page
About the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund
The Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund was established in 2021. As of March 31, 2024, 146 funding agreements are in place providing more than $216.5 million to Indigenous communities and organizations to support community-led and Survivor-centric initiatives to document, locate and commemorate the children that did not return home and unmarked burial sites associated with former residential schools.
Addressing the ongoing legacy of residential schools is an urgent priority for the Government of Canada. This priority includes supporting Indigenous communities and families as they seek to research, locate, and document burial sites associated with former residential schools.
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report and 94 Calls to Action detailing the far-reaching impacts of the residential schools system. The report outlined the significant work remaining to address the ongoing legacy of the residential schools system. Which includes the work to identify and locate the resting places of children who died while in the care of these institutions.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action 74 to 76 set out an approach to honour missing children and undocumented burial sites of Indian Residential Schools. These include the 140 residential schools in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) and 5 residential schools included in the Newfoundland and Labrador Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
The Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund aims to provide support to Indigenous communities and partners to develop and implement community-led initiatives to locate and document burial sites and graves associated with Indian Residential Schools.
The work necessary to locate missing children and unmarked burial sites associated with former residential schools progresses along a continuum. Knowledge gathering and archival research about missing children and fieldwork to locate potential unmarked burial sites is necessary before work can begin on exhumation, identification and, if it is the wish of families, repatriation of remains.
Who can access funding
To access funding, you must be:
- Indigenous governments, band councils or tribal councils, or its delegated authorities
- an Indigenous not-for-profit organization or group
- organizations, including Survivor groups, demonstrating a close working partnership with and directed by Indigenous-governed organizations
As children from multiple home communities attended the same residential school, groups coming together with joint proposals for individual Indian Residential Schools are encouraged to consult with each other on their proposed initiatives where appropriate. This consultation is intended to avoid a potential duplication of efforts.
Activities that will be funded in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026:
For initiatives to be eligible under this funding stream they must be related to 1 or more of the 140 schools included in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement or 1 of the 5 schools in the Newfoundland and Labrador Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (Anderson).
The maximum amount of funding available is $500,000 per year per initiative, which is detailed as follows:
- up to $200,000.00 to support research and knowledge gathering activities
- up to $300,000.00 for fieldwork
To sustain an equitable disbursement of funds such that as many communities as possible have access to funding, priority will be given to:
- research, such as archival searches, and knowledge gathering, such as statement gathering, about missing children
- fieldwork investigations to identify probable locations of unmarked burials
- initiatives that seek to engage with communities that have not yet begun research or fieldwork
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada recognizes that these initiatives must be flexible and responsive to the broad range of community needs, realities and priorities.
In exceptional circumstances additional funding may be made available.
Exceptions may be considered on an individual basis for communities and organizations that:
- are a new recipient (have not received funds in previous years)
- do not have carry-over funding from a previous year
- are able to demonstrates an urgent need for funding, over and above the existing limits for research/knowledge gathering or fieldwork, due to a new, unforeseen or unexpected change in information
How to access funding
Applicants are encouraged to read the Program Guidelines prior to submitting a funding request form. We also encourage communities and organizations to engage with a program representative prior to the completion of a funding request. Should you wish to be contacted by a program representative, please submit an email request to: enfants_disparus-missing_children@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca.
Please also refer to the Program Guidelines for a listing of eligible initiatives and expenditures and send a completed Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Funding form to: enfants_disparus-missing_children@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca
If the activities contemplated by your organization are not eligible for this funding, we will attempt to identify relevant available resources as part of our analysis, with a view to offering a single window for accessing support.
Funding to address former residential school buildings and sites on reserve is available through Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). To access support for the demolition or rehabilitation of residential school buildings, or the construction of new facilities on reserve so that activities currently taking place in these buildings can continue, communities should contact their regional ISC office.
How the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund is delivered
The funding is provided in the form of a contribution.
A contribution is a conditional payment issued for a specific purpose, as outlined in a funding agreement. The funding agreement is signed by all parties and specifies the terms to receive funding.
Consult the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Funding Recipients for information on current funded initiatives.
Application deadline
Proposals including a completed application, workplan, detailed budget and cashflow forecast can be submitted to the department throughout the fiscal year for current and future year funding. The department has established the annual deadline for applications for current fiscal year requests, including expenses incurred back to April 1 of the current fiscal year. Annual deadlines for funding applications are as follows:
The deadline for submitting funding applications will be November 15, 2024, this fiscal year and September 15, 2025, next fiscal year.
Contact us
Address:
Resolution & Partnerships, Settlement Agreement & Childhood Claims Branch
25 Rue Eddy - 6th floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0H4
Email: enfants_disparus-missing_children@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca
Disclosure of information
Funding requests are subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The information you submit in your application may be disclosed in accordance with these acts.
By submitting your activities information, you authorize us to disclose any information submitted with this form within the Government of Canada or to outside entities for the following purposes:
- to reach a decision
- to support transparency, accountability and citizen engagement
Mental health support
The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all Indigenous peoples across Canada, by telephone and by online chat.
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program provides mental health, emotional and cultural support services to eligible former Indian residential school students and their families.
Related links
- Statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools
- Statement from the Minister
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Final Report
- National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- Office of the Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools
- Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement Website
- Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action