IndigenousA society that spreads awareness about the legacy of residential schools will hold a graduation event at BC Place in Vancouver for high school students at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.Invites B.C. Grade 12 grads to gather in April at BC PlaceEdzi’u Loverin · CBC News · Posted: Sep 16, 2025 2:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 16Orange Shirt Society members and supporters stand outside BC Place in Vancouver. The society will hold a graduation event at BC Place next April. (Edzi’u Loverin/CBC)A society that spreads awareness about the legacy of residential schools will hold a graduation event at BC Place in Vancouver for high school students at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.Phyllis Webstad, CEO and founding member of the Orange Shirt Society, said the society will throw an Every Child Matters graduation ceremony event on April 13, 2026, at a news conference Monday.She founded the Orange Shirt Society in 2013 as a grassroots initiative to raise awareness about the legacy of residential schools. The society says this year’s Grade 12 students will be the first to have had exposure to the history of residential schools throughout their education, through orange shirts.”These high school graduates are leaving the school system with empathy and knowledge of what happened to us in residential schools,” said Webstad.”I’m 58 years old. Many my age never learned in school about what happened to us. This is not just a normal graduation; it is living proof of the change that happens when truth is taught and reconciliation is embraced in our classrooms.”Webstad wore an orange shirt on her first day at a residential school, St. Joseph’s Mission, in Williams Lake, B.C., in 1976. The shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was taken from her by school officials and never returned. Webstad said Orange Shirt Day was originally created to be a day of conversation, and she had no idea of the impacts the story of her experience in residential school would make.”It’s the message that’s important,” she said.”Orange Shirt Day, Every Child Matters, was created to honour survivors and their families and to remember those who never made it home. That’s what I want them to think about when they’re wearing their orange shirt… My shirt is a symbol of that.”Orange Shirt Day is to honour survivors and remember those who never made it home, says Orange Shirt Society founder Phyllis Webstad. (Edzi’u Loverin/CBC)The society aims to raise $1.5 million for the event to honour over 20,000 B.C. students in person, as well as others virtually. The graduation ceremony will include live performances from Canadian artists, an Indigenous marketplace, trade show and career fair.Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students will be welcomed through collaboration with school districts across the province, the Orange Shirt Society said in a statement.Seeking donationsThe Orange Shirt Society runs several programs to spread awareness on the impacts of residential schools, including an Every Child Matters orange crosswalk art project, a residential school survivor speaker series, and a hockey jersey program to help educate athletes.Shannon Henderson, chief operating officer of Orange Shirt Society, said the society is not publicly funded and operations and programming are paid for by donations or sponsorships the society has fostered.”It’s really hard to say on how much we get per year because it is based on donations and depending on orange shirt sales,” said Henderson.Henderson said Walmart Canada gave the Orange Shirt society $300,000 last year, raised through the corporation’s shirt sales, some of which will help pay for the graduation ceremony event.This is the fourth consecutive year Walmart has supported the society.Melanie Mark, former minister of advanced education and skills training in B.C. and an ambassador for the Orange Shirt Society, said she encourages corporations in the province to donate to the event.”If you’re really committed to reconciliation in action, then I’m going to give you my favourite quote from Jerry Maguire: show me the money,” said Mark.”It’s for all of our kids, so they can come fill the stands here on April 13, 2026, and celebrate this human rights movement.”This year Sept. 30 marks the fifth National Truth And Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day, as a federal statutory holiday recognized by several provinces and territories.ABOUT THE AUTHOREdzi’u Loverin is graduate of CBC’s Indigenous Pathways Program and has reported in Vancouver and Winnipeg since 2024. Edzi’u is a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and a registered member of the Tahltan Nation, but is currently based in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories. You can email Edzi’u at edziu.loverin@cbc.ca with story ideas.
Orange Shirt Society announces big Every Child Matters graduation event next spring
