Go to main content

CBC HONOURS NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMMING ON SEPTEMBER 30

*CBC logo marking National Truth and Reconciliation Day designed by Anishinaabe artist Emily Kewageshig

CBC LIVE NEWS SPECIAL - REMEMBERING THE CHILDREN: NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION, hosted by CBC News Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault from Ottawa, will broadcast on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC News Network and across digital platforms

CBC Indigenous’ F I R S T. celebrates accomplishments by First Nations, Inuit and Métis trailblazers on CBC Gem and CBC News streaming channels

Indigenous-led celebration of creativity, brilliance, culture and community, RECLAIMED PRESENTS: ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl COME TOWARD THE FIRE, returns for a third year on CBC Radio, CBC Music and CBC Listen

THE KNOWING, Tanya Talaga’s deeply personal look at the legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential School system, premieres September 25 on CBC TV and with all episodes available on CBC Gem

CBC is marking the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday, September 30 with an extensive lineup of Indigenous-led original programming showcasing First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives and experiences across CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC News streaming channels, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBC Music and CBC Listen. Also known as Orange Shirt Day, CBC’s programming will include CBC LIVE NEWS SPECIAL - REMEMBERING THE CHILDREN: NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION, hosted by CBC News Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault from Ottawa, as well as the third edition of musical celebration RECLAIMED PRESENTS: ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl COME TOWARD THE FIRE and special F I R S T. from CBC Indigenous, exploring First Nations, Inuit and Métis trailblazers and their incredible accomplishments. 

*Select images are available here. Credit: Courtesy of CBC.*

CBC’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation lineup on Monday, September 30 includes:

Note: Radio-Canada programming information available here. 

Q WITH TOM POWER 

10 a.m. (10:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen 

Dr. Shirley Cheechoo, one of Canada’s most prominent voices in Indigenous film and theatre, joins Tom Power to talk about her life on stage and screen, and the healing and medicine she has found in art. Actor, producer and director Devery Jacobs (Rhymes with Young Ghouls, Blood Quantum, Reservation Dogs) came by the Q studio to talk about her journey to this moment - and what she wants for her own future.

COMMOTION WITH ELAMIN ABDELMAHMOUD

11 a.m. (11:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen

Elamin Abdelmahmoud speaks to three Indigenous cultural creators about how the concept of Indigenous Futurism is inspiring artists across all disciplines, and how its forward-thinking philosophies can promote the cause of Indigenous self-determination. 

THE NEXT CHAPTER 

1 p.m. (1:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen

(Saturday, September 28 at 2 p.m. (2:30 NT, 5pm MT, 5pm PT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen)

THE NEXT CHAPTER will air an all-Indigenous episode including a tribute to the late Darrel J. McLeod. 

CBC NEWS SPECIAL - REMEMBERING THE CHILDREN: NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

2:30 p.m. ET on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC News Network, CBC News streaming channels, cbcnews.ca, the CBC News app and the CBC News YouTube Channel

CBC News Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault will be in Ottawa to host special live coverage of events to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, including the program Remembering the Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in association with APTN and CBC/Radio-Canada, to honour residential school survivors and pay tribute to the children who never made it home. 

F I R S T.

5 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET on CBC News streaming channels and begins streaming at 9 a.m. ET on CBC Gem

On the fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, CBC Indigenous is telling the stories of our truth. Today will be a tough day. Important, traumatic, stories will be shared by survivors. But we must also take the time to acknowledge that we are so much more than our trauma. Join CBC Indigenous as we focus on some of our truths. The truth that we are resilient, successful, amazing and smart. The truth that we were FIRST.  From new inventions, the law and outside the law, medicine and feats of great heights, in the sports world and beyond, let’s talk about the accomplishments of First Nations, Inuit and Métis trailblazers.

RECLAIMED PRESENTS: ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl COME TOWARD THE FIRE 

5 p.m. (5:30 NT) on CBC Music and CBC Listen

(Saturday, September 28 at 9 p.m. (10 AT, 10:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen)

Celebrating Indigenous talent, creativity and brilliance with live music performances by Sebastian Gaskin and Celeigh Cardinal from the main stage of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia. Hosted by Jeremy Ratt.

NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION SPECIAL 

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen 

Falen Johnson hosts highlights from the day’s events in Ottawa commemorating National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, plus interviews with special guests.

All day on September 30, CBC Music will highlight Indigenous artists and composers, and CBC TV will air Indigenous-led documentaries including Behind Every Image, A Story (8 p.m., 8:30 NT) and Mashkawi-Manidoo Bimaadiziwin Spirit to Soar (9 p.m., 9:30 NT).

CBC Gem’s TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COLLECTION is available now with more than 20 films, specials and documentaries honouring the history, heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. The collection includes 2024 Hot Docs Audience Award winner YINTAH, meaning “land” in the Wet’suwet’en language, telling the story of the Wet’suwet’en people reoccupying their territory and resisting the construction of multiple pipelines. The film follows Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson and Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, along with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and fellow land defenders, as they reoccupy and protect their traditional land in a decade-long battle to keep out the companies that seek to exploit it. 

CBC’s ongoing coverage and recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation includes: 

BOOKENDS WITH MATTEA ROACH 

Sunday, September 29 at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT, 3 PT) and Wednesday, October 2 at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT) on CBC Radio and CBC Listen

Mattea Roach will speak with Tanya Talaga about her book The Knowing and the companion CBC documentary series, and with Penobscot Indian Nation citizen Morgan Talty about his latest novel Fire Exit.

THE KNOWING 

All four episodes available to stream on CBC Gem beginning Wednesday, September 25; episodes air weekly on CBC TV at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)

THE KNOWING is a four-part CBC original narrative docuseries that follows journalist Tanya Talaga and her family’s eight-decade long search for family matriarch Annie Carpenter, revealing a story deeply intertwined with Canada’s Indian Residential School system. Using sweeping imagery of the land, blended with rare archival footage and deeply personal conversations with Survivors, knowledge holders and newly found family, Talaga takes viewers on an emotional journey of both familial reclamation and an exploration of Canada’s true history. 

KUPER ISLAND 

Eight-part series available on CBC Listen and everywhere podcasts are available. 

Long after the Kuper Island Residential School was torn down, the survivors remain haunted by what happened there. Investigative journalist Duncan McCue exposes undisclosed police investigations, confronts perpetrators of abuse, and witnesses a community trying to rebuild on top of the old school’s ruins and the unmarked graves of Indigenous children. 

CBC Books will feature digital content centred around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, including a reading list curated by Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad.

Webstad also visited the CBC Kids studio to discuss her new book Today is Orange Shirt Day. CBC Kids will showcase the best of their Indigenous-themed programming across CBC Kids YouTube, CBC Gem and the CBC Kids preschool morning broadcast schedule. CBC Kids News teen contributor Sophia Smoke, from Dakota Plains First Nation, hosts three videos to help students and teachers talk about the day including an explainer on the 94 Calls to Action, how to have respectful conversations with residential school survivors, and a feature interview with survivor Dorene Bernard from Sipekne'katik First Nation, who answers questions from kids across the country.

***

Contributing Art Director Emily Kewageshig, an Anishinaabe artist raised in Saugeen First Nation #29, designed the CBC logo in 2021 to mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Her work captures the interconnection of life forms using culturally significant materials from the land. 

-30-

About CBC/Radio Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages: Dehcho Dene Yati, Dënesųłıné (Chipewyan), Eastern Cree, Gwich’in, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Sahtu Got'ine Godi, and Tłı̨chǫ (Tlicho). We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR 

tanya.koivusalo@cbc.ca

 

 

Discover

1 day ago

Tenth anniversary rebroadcast of The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration concert on August 22

Relive the night Canada stood still for the live broadcast of The Tragically Hip’s 2016 Man Machine Poem concert from Kingston, Ont., re-broadcasting and streaming commercial-free on Saturday, August 22 on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio and CBC Music’s YouTube page. 
August 5th at 9:50

CBC sets Fall 2026 premiere dates

CBC today announced streaming and broadcast premiere dates for its fall 2026 slate of new and returning programming on CBC Gem and CBC TV, including more than 20 original series and specials from Canadian creators, producers, and storytellers reflecting people, places and perspectives from across the country.
July 28th at 9:53

A Brand New Season of The New Wave of Standup Launches August 7, 2026 on CBC Gem

Showcasing 14 notable rising stars from Canada's epic comedy scene
July 24th at 11:54

New to CBC Gem in August 2026

New titles joining CBC Gem in August include the exclusive Canadian premieres of travelogue Richard E. Grant’s Very Modern Odyssey, New Zealand buddy-cop crime series Bust Up, and gripping UK vacation drama Two Weeks in August, plus concert special The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration and new CBC Kids series Iyanu, Butterfly Academy and Maddie & Triggs. 
July 23rd at 10:45

Filming Underway on Season Three of CBC Original Hit Drama ‘Saint-Pierre’

Hawco Productions began filming the third season of the series this month in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and will also shoot in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, France.