Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

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A National Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for former Residential School students. Emotional and crisis referral services are available by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

The Hope for Wellness Line is available to all Indigenous peoples and provides immediate, toll-free telephone and on-line support and crisis intervention 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is available in English, French and, upon request, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut. Trained counsellors are available by phone at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.

The location of potential unmarked graves and burial sites at former Indian residential schools has caused us all to reflect on the profound generational harms of Indian residential schools and the impacts of this intergenerational trauma that First Nations, Inuit and Métis continue to face today.

On June 8, 2022, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announced the appointment of Kimberly Murray as Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. Ms. Murray has been working closely and collaboratively with Indigenous leaders, communities, Survivors, families and experts to identify needed measures and recommend a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment and protection of unmarked graves and burial sites of children at former Indian residential schools and associated sites.

On May 31, 2024, Ms. Murray announced that her mandate had been extended into the Fall of 2024. This enabled her to continue her crucial work and to deliver the Final Report before the end of her Mandate.

On October 29, 2024, Ms. Murray delivered her Final Report to Survivors and their families, First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and to the Minister of Justice at a Closing National Gathering.