UPDATE May 2024: We are excited to announce that we have moved to the next phase of the Indian Residential School Memorial Project.

Through the remainder of 2024, The City will be pursuing a two-stage design competition to secure a qualified Indigenous lead designer for the Indian Residential School Memorial. Individuals or design teams are welcome to apply; this includes professional Indigenous artists. This work builds on the extensive public engagement that took place in fall 2022, where we received hundreds of contributions from IRS survivors, descendants, families, and community members on the location and design of the memorial. The feedback from this engagement is available in a What We Heard Report, and was shared with Council and the community in May 2023.

The first step of this work was the formal announcement of this upcoming design competition through a Notice of Proposed Procurement, which outlines what assets and qualifications the future lead designer will need to be successful.

The next steps will involve two stages: 1) a Request for Pre-Qualification (RFPQ) to shortlist eligible design teams that demonstrate Indigenous leadership, experience, and capacity, and; 2) a Request for Proposals (RFP) to invite the shortlisted teams to submit their design concepts for the memorial.

The design concepts will be evaluated by a jury of Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts and will include a community engagement component. The winning design will be announced in the fall of 2024 with construction planned to commence in spring 2025.

Through Partnership with Fort Calgary, which was secured in September 2023, the future memorial will be located near the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, a historically significant site for Indigenous Peoples of this area.

The relationship with the Indigenous community will lead the design and location of the IRS memorial with a strong Indigenous perspective. The City of Calgary wants to ensure that the engagement process is inclusive and collaborative.

Express your thoughts and feelings on a preferred location and design of the memorial by responding to the questions in the tabs for Location, Design and the temporary Memorial.

to make arrangements.