Orange Shirt Day

September 30th is Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation — a day to honour the experiences of residential school survivors. All U of T community members are encouraged to wear orange on Sept. 30 as a show of solidarity and a reminder that “Every Child Matters.”

Established in 1914, the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work acknowledges the role it has played in a field that has caused undo harm to Indigenous communities. The abuse and violence that Indigenous families have experienced through the child welfare system has contributed to intergenerational trauma that continues to affect Indigenous communities and individuals to this day. Additionally, Canada’s colonial past and present supports systems of oppression and structural violence in ways that we are still working to understand, unlearn and address. Acknowledging these difficult truths is an important step in the Faculty’s work toward reconciliation.

Among the values that guide FIFSW’s work, as expressed in our 2025-2030 Academic Plan, is a dedication to honouring diverse perspectives — including Indigenous and decolonized ways of knowing — as essential to the creation of knowledge. FIFSW’s goals include “promoting the expansion of social work knowledge by embracing multiple ways of knowing, and integrating lived experiences, Indigenous ways of knowing, and critical paradigms with our strengths in rigorous empirical research.”

Graphic promoting Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation commemoration at U of T

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation Commemoration

U of T students, librarians, faculty members and staff are invited to register to attend a University-wide event to commemorate Orange Shirt Day at Hart House. The event will also be streamed live online. The commemoration is hosted by the UTM, UTSC and institutional Offices of Indigenous Initiatives, First Nations House Indigenous Student Services, Centre for Indigenous Studies, and Hart House.

Social Work’s national and professional commitment to Truth and Reconciliation

“CASW has committed to applying a reconciliation lens to the re-visioning of foundational documents, to bring humility and accountability to social justice efforts, and to give precedence to indigenous voices and causes. Social workers must have access to education and information to help advance reconciliation and decolonization in their own practice”

— Statement of Apology and Commitment to Reconciliation, Canadian Association of Social Workers, Fall 20219