Featured collections
Browse the records and collections
In-person visitors can engage with records through interactive technology at the Centre. The records can also be accessed at any time online.
Research support is available for Survivors and their families looking for personal records.
Loyie Brissenden Collection
Award-winning Cree author Larry Loyie was determined to inform the world about Indigenous history, culture, and traditions through his writing. His plays, children’s books, and national history, Residential Schools, With the Words and Images of Survivors, confirmed his important legacy of “books by us, and about us.” The IRSHDC is currently processing the Larry Loyie and Constance Brissenden archive.
Our Stories, Our Strength
The Legacy of Hope Foundation traveled across Canada recording the stories of residential school Survivors, between 2004 and 2008. A selection of Survivor stories from this collection have been made available to view and to listen to through a partnership with the Legacy of Hope Foundation.
Reports and legislation collection
Explore the history and legacy of residential schools through this collection of legislation and reports through an interactive timeline.
Schools Timeline
Histories of residential schools in Canada occupy a timeline that represents just a portion of the history of colonialism in Canada. The residential school era shaped Canada and its relationship between Indigenous peoples for generations and in many ways, it continues to do so. While these histories are not necessarily linear and these dates occupy a much broader understanding of colonial histories it is important to see the trajectory of how Canada grew as a nation and relied on colonial control through residential schools.
