Advertisement

By the numbers: A look at residential schools

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission examining Canada’s Indian residential schools is to release a summary of its final report Tuesday after hearing testimony from 7,000 survivors over five years. Here is a by-the-numbers look at residential schools:

The 1840s — Church-run schools are established for aboriginal children.

1883 — The year the federal government establishes three large residential schools in Western Canada to “kill the Indian in the child.”

1920 — The year the Indian Act is amended to make it compulsory for status Indian children between seven and 15 to attend residential school.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: Aboriginal residential schools report just the beginning: survivors

70 — The number of residential schools operating by the 1930s.

130 — The total number of residential schools that received support from the federal government at the program’s peak.

60 per cent — The proportion of residential schools run by the Catholic church.

1996 — The year the last residential school closes outside Regina.

150,000 — The estimated number of children who went through the residential school system.

80,000 — The estimated number of residential school students still alive.

Unknown — The number of children who died in Canada’s residential schools. Provinces are still handing over death certificates for aboriginal children from the residential school era.

60 per cent — The mortality rate reached at some residential schools, according to Truth and Reconciliation chairman Justice Murray Sinclair.

$1.9 billion — The federal government’s compensation package offered to former residential school students.

(Source: Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

Advertisement

Sponsored content

AdChoices