Indian Residential School Memorial Project moves into design phase

Through the Indigenous Relations Office (IRO), in partnership with Fort Calgary, and with the guidance of Indigenous community members and the Residential School Memorial Elders Advisory Board, The City is creating a memorial in honour of all the residential school survivors and the thousands of children who never returned home. The memorial, which responds to Call to Action #82 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report, will be located at Fort Calgary, a historically significant site for Indigenous Peoples of this area. 

The intention of this co-created memorial is to provide a safe place for people to come to pay respects, to acknowledge the truth of Canadian History, and the ongoing impact of intergenerational trauma. The future memorial will also hold space for a reconciliatory environment between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"The Indian Residential School Memorial Project is a meaningful and important initiative that will acknowledge the truth of what happened to Indigenous children and families in our city and across the country," says Lorelei Higgens, Team Lead, Indigenous Relations Office. "It will also celebrate the strength and spirit of the survivors and their descendants, and foster reconciliation and healing among all Calgarians."

To continue advancing this work, the IRO is entering the procurement phase, starting with the procuring of a design team for the memorial. This procurement process will bring the greatest degree of Indigenous participation and tap into the creative capacity of the community.  

"We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Indigenous community on this project and to honour their stories and experiences through this memorial," says Harold Horsefall, Issues Strategist with The City’s Indigenous Relations Office and co-lead on the memorial project. "We hope that the memorial will be a place of remembrance, reflection and learning for generations to come." 

Interested respondents are encouraged to review the Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP) on The City’s contract management system (SAP Ariba), to learn more about the eligibility criteria and the submission requirements.

The remainder of the procurement process will happen in two stages. Stage one is a Request for Pre-Qualification (RFPQ) to shortlist Indigenous-led design teams and stage two is a Request for Proposals (RFP) design contest among the shortlisted candidates from stage one. The design contest will invite the pre-qualified teams to submit their proposals for the memorial, which will be evaluated by a jury of Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts and include a community engagement component. The winning design will be announced in fall 2024, with construction planned for spring 2025. 

For more information and updates on the project, please visit www.engage.calgary.ca/IRSmemorial.