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Residential Schools and the Presbyterian Church in Canada

From the PCC Website

The Presbyterian Church in Canada operated 11 residential schools beginning in the mid 1880’s through to 1969. These schools and their locations are:

  • Ahousaht Residential School in British Columbia,
  • Alberni Residential School in British Columbia,
  • Birtle Residential School in Manitoba,
  • Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School, first located in Shoal Lake, Ontario and relocated to Kenora, Ontario,
  • Crowstand Residential School in Saskatchewan,
  • File Hills Residential School in Saskatchewan,
  • Muscowpetung (later known as “Lakesend”) Residential School in Saskatchewan,
  • Portage la Prairie Residential School in Manitoba,
  • Regina Residential School in Saskatchewan,
  • Round Lake Residential School in Saskatchewan, and
  • Stoney Plain Residential School in Alberta.

In 1925 all but two of the schools that were still open were transferred to the United Church of Canada, which was established as a result of the Church Union Movement. The two schools the PCC continued to operate after 1925 were Birtle Residential School and Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School.  

In addition to the trauma of being forcibly taken from their homes, families, and communities, students faced abuse, neglect, non-consensual experimentation, increased illness and death. The church has confessed its role in running the schools and is seeking a path of reconciliation with Indigenous people. But the trauma those schools caused for individuals, families and communities continues to significantly impact Indigenous people today. As a church, we are called to repentance and to action.

The PCC first formally apologized for its role in running residential schools in 1994, called our Confession. The church renewed its commitment to living out that Confession in 2019 when it also formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery and the concept of terra nullius in response to Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action number 49.  

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