What We Do

Our focus it to:

• Respectfully track reconciliation progress using best practices in psychometrics (the science of psychological measurement) and public polling.
• Understand what reconciliation means to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, on an ongoing and evolving basis.

We also aim to:

• Develop and evaluate evidence-based interventions to promote reconciliation.
• Inform policy related to reconciliation.
• Create a national network to support our work and other projects.

Our work is guided by the concept of “seven generations.” This concept, shared among some Indigenous peoples, suggests that what we do now will affect the lives of today’s children, their children, and several more generations. It is also a framework to understand the complex relationship and accountabilities associated with living respectfully with the past, present, and future. Applying this to reconciliation, we understand that the harms inflicted upon communities are intergenerational and, as a result, the healing will also take many generations. We also acknowledge that this process may not be linear.

In doing this work, we intend to be one mechanism to increase transparency and accountability to ensure those who come after us enjoy good and just relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Though we remain hopeful, we believe caution, diligence, and awareness are necessary to ensure those within government and our broader society work toward effective solutions and do not repeat racist, fundamentally oppressive, or violent patterns of action. Given the history of genocide in Canada, we know we need to be vigilant. The path to a just future is not guaranteed.

Our work contributes to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 65: 

“We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.”

This work is also consistent with some of the intended goals of the National Council for Reconciliation, as outlined in Calls to Action 53 to 56.