Calgary’s permanent residential school memorial designs to be released in March [Video]

The City of Calgary has opened applications to design its permanent residential school memorial and the winning plan will be chosen in mid-2025.

For three years, a makeshift memorial of shoes, toys and messages has lived on the steps of city hall to serve as a reminder of the horrors of residential schools and the children who didn’t come home.

“I couldn’t even imagine. I could hear their voices, I could hear the abuse. And they were helpless children. And throughout their lives, they created sanctuary in our communities,” said Marina Crane, an Indigenous Elder from Tsuut’ina.

In what was a unique council meeting, the entire agenda for Monday centred around updates on Indigenous projects and the city’s work toward truth and reconciliation.

The city plans to move the memorial from city hall to an area nearly 10,000 square metres at The Confluence, formerly known as Fort Calgary.

“We sought …