September 29, 2025
With Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation taking place tomorrow, we pause to reflect on the painful legacy of the Residential School System and the ongoing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous communities across Canada. This year also marks ten years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its Final Report and the 94 Calls to Action, which continue to challenge us all to face hard truths and work toward meaningful change.
Across the country, individuals, communities, governments, and industries are taking steps to advance reconciliation. At Architecture49, this commitment has become an integral part of our journey as designers, collaborators, and community builders.
Four years ago, we launched our Reconciliation Action Plan with a clear goal: to go deeper, get organized, and dedicate ourselves to authentic learning and action. Since then, I’ve been proud to see the foundation we’ve built together.
Since then, we have:
- Completed a cross-country land acknowledgment workshop series – creating regionally specific statements written in staff voices, rooted in the history and spirit of the lands where we live and work.
- Training opportunities on truth and empathy – strengthening cultural competence and reminding us of our responsibility as designers to create spaces of awareness, collaboration, and belonging.
- Embedded co-design practices into our projects – approaching engagement with greater intention and structuring processes that honour community voice and leadership.
- Integrated Indigenous art, design, and storytelling – shifting perspectives, inspiring pride, and opening dialogue with clients and communities.
- Established sustained ongoing support for the next generation of Indigenous designers – offering scholarships, mentorship, and pathways into design to help close the gap in representation across the profession.
- Continued to build on our decades of experience in Indigenous community work - serving both remote and urban communities across Canada in education, healthcare, community services, and beyond through processes guided by community priorities and vision.
Each of these initiatives is part of a broader understanding: reconciliation is not a project with an end date, but a long journey of dialogue, patience, and persistence. We know progress does not move in a straight line, but over time, we are committed to moving in the right direction.
As we reflect on both the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the role our profession can play in advancing reconciliation, we invite our peers and partners across the design and construction industry to continue this work with courage, humility, and care. Together, we can create spaces and futures that are more just and equitable.