Once built, the permanent installation will replace a temporary memorial that has stood on the steps out front of Calgary’s municipal building since 2021
The city is launching a multi-phase design competition to determine who will conceptualize a memorial for children who attended residential schools — a permanent installation that will be located at the birthplace of modern-day Calgary.
The city released a request for pre-qualifications this month to determine a shortlist of five Indigenous-led applicants to design the memorial. The top five candidates will submit their concepts via a request for proposal in November, and a competition jury will determine the winner in March.
The memorial will be built on a city-owned plot of land near the Bow River pathway. A marker is currently placed at the future memorial’s site, which lies on a 10,000-square-metre, triangle-shaped parcel with a 419-metre perimeter.
On Monday, representatives from the city’s Indigenous Relations Office told council the memorial at The Confluence will honour both the children who lost their lives at residential schools and those who survived the experience.
Harold Horsefall from the city’s Indigenous Relations Office said the memorial is intended to provide a space for community gatherings, spiritual events such as drumming and singing, and reconciliation-themed education programming that teaches visitors “the dark side of the Indian Residential School experience in the hopes that such an experience never repeats itself.”
“Incidentally, these activities (drumming and singing) are the very activities the Indian Residential School system sought to eliminate, in addition to Indigenous language,” he added.
Historic resource impact assessment necessary
Before construction can begin, the site will need to undergo a historic resource impact assessment, due to its proximity to the former Fort Calgary. According to Horsefall, that process will last about 10 months, and could be longer if an archeological dig reveals historic artifacts in the earth — a discovery that would trigger an official duty to consult.
“We cannot begin this process until we have a design and we cannot begin construction until we have completed that historic resource impact assessment,” Horsefall said. “While we’re optimistic we can begin and enter the construction phase late in 2025, it’s more likely the construction phase will not begin until Quarter 2 of 2026.”
At the end of Monday’s meeting, council voted to direct administration to return next year with the preferred design concept and a future funding request before council’s November 2025 budget deliberations.
Council approved a $1-million project budget in 2022 but, according to Monday’s report, the memorial could ultimately cost up to $5 million.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek defended the lengthy timeline by saying it’s more important to get it right than to set something up quickly.
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my journey toward reconciliation is that some things take time,” she said. “They take time because it’s important to engage with all the parties that are impacted.
“(Prioritizing) speed to deliver something that doesn’t actually capture the essence of what’s required is also not the right way to go, so we continue to make sure we’re working with our partners and making good decisions.”