Ten Years After the TRC: “A Living Mandate”
OTTAWA — On the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Final Reportand its 94 Calls to Action, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is urging governments, institutions, and Canadians to accelerate action—warning that many Calls remain unfulfilled and that denialism is causing ongoing harm.
Statement From National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak
“Ten years ago Canada was offered a path forward — a path grounded in truth, accountability, and reconciliation. The TRC Final Report laid bare the painful truths of the Indian Residential School system. It summoned all of us, as First Nations and as Canadians, to honour Survivors, acknowledge harms, and to move forward with integrity. We lift up the Survivors, their families, communities and all those who shared their stories so that future generations would know the truth. It is our duty to honour their memory and courage by giving life to the 94 Calls to Action in the TRC report.
The 94 Calls to Action are a living mandate. It’s been a decade, yet many Calls still remain unfulfilled, systemic injustices endure. Today, we call on the federal government, all levels of government, institutions, and every Canadian to renew their commitment. Implement all 94 Calls to Action in full. We remind all governments that the TRC called upon federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation. We call on Canada to uphold these legal commitments and provide sustainable, adequate support for healing, commemoration, and restoration, and support First Nations-led efforts to find, identify, repatriate and commemorate missing children and unmarked graves.
This work is increasingly important at this time when we are confronted with the scourge of Indian Residential School denialism. At the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly this month, First Nations-in-Assembly were loud and clear: Indian Residential School denialism has no place in Canada. It is rooted in ignorance. It is harmful to Survivors, First Nations and all Canadians. We will follow the mandate set forth by Chiefs and urgently press Canada to legislate IRS denialism as the hate crime that it is.
On this anniversary, we encourage all Canadians to reflect on our shared history, on what has been done and what remains to be done. We must reaffirm our individual and collective responsibility to hold space for truth, to listen, to educate, and to act. I urge all Canadians to read the TRC Report and the 94 Calls to Action. Find your place and your role in this essential work. The TRC report showed us a path to the top of the mountain. It is our responsibility to make that climb. We will get there if we travel together.”
Background: What the TRC Report Is—and Why It Still Matters
The TRC was created in 2008 through the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to document the history and impacts of the residential school system. Over six years, the Commission gathered testimony from thousands of Survivors and witnesses and produced a multi-volume final report.
The TRC’s 94 Calls to Action were released in 2015 as a national roadmap to address the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation across child welfare, education, language and culture, health, justice, and commemoration—calling on all levels of government and wider society to act.
Where Implementation Stands in 2025
Tracking progress is contested, in part because different organizations use different definitions of what counts as “completed.”
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The AFN’s September 2025 report card states no Calls to Action were completed in 2024–2025, and estimates about 13 Calls to Action completed to date, noting progress has been “too slow.”
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The federal government’s Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) page reports that, of the 76 Calls involving federal leadership, more than 85% are “completed or well underway.”
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APTN News, citing Indigenous Watchdog, reported in late 2025 that 14 Calls are complete, with many others stalled, not started, or in progress.
Notable Steps Cited by Governments and Organizations
Among initiatives frequently referenced as progress points:
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National Day for Truth and Reconciliation established as a federal statutory holiday (Call to Action 80).
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Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund to support Indigenous-led projects (Call to Action 76).
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National Council for Reconciliation: legislation to establish it received Royal Assent in April 2024 (linked to Calls to Action 53–56), and AFN’s 2025 report card points to ongoing work to operationalize the Council.
UNDRIP as the Framework for Reconciliation
National Chief Woodhouse Nepinak’s statement also points to the TRC’s direction that governments adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the framework for reconciliation. Federal legislation—the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act—creates a framework for federal implementation in collaboration with Indigenous peoples.
Last Word: AFN marks 10 years since TRC Final Report, urges full action on 94 Calls and UNDRIP framework.
