Honouring Canada’s National Day for Truth & Reconciliation
September 28 2023
On Sept. 30, 2021, the inaugural National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, the College committed our ongoing and unwavering support for the vital national goal of tangible progress on Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation goals. As Ontario’s teaching regulator, that support is shaped by our mandate to serve the public by protecting student interests.
We have been carefully tending to that commitment in the weeks and months since, informed by intentional engagement with elders, community leaders, and other stakeholders to ensure that Indigenous history, culture, and ways of knowing are woven throughout our work.
The College’s regulatory duties include accrediting Ontario-based initial teacher education programs. Our guidance for faculties seeking accreditation has been revised and modernized to help ensure that new teacher candidates are provided with a frank understanding of our shared histories, the steps we have taken toward progress, and the many steps remaining to achieve true reconciliation.
We continue to encourage this understanding after teacher candidates begin their careers as Ontario Certified Teachers and members of the College by accrediting in-service Additional Qualifications courses that equip educators with deeper knowledge to effectively and respectfully pass Indigenous cultures and teachings on to future generations.
Those future generations, and the future of the provincial education system, will benefit when there are more Indigenous teachers leading our learning environments. It is an unfortunate truth that many aspiring teachers who identify as Indigenous face unique barriers to entering the profession. Together with community leaders, we will be developing alternative pathways to certification for Indigenous teacher candidates.
We carry out this work while never losing sight of the painful fact that education was used as a mechanism for oppression and forced assimilation. Acknowledging that truth, and the resulting damage that still lingers, is essential to the College’s continuing work toward genuine reconciliation in the spirit of peace, friendship, and mutual respect.
Diana Miles
Chair of Council
Ontario College of Teachers
Linda Lacroix, OCT/EAO
Registrar & CEO
Ontario College of Teachers
