Ottawa funding more searches for unmarked graves at former N.S. residential school

Fieldwork on the grounds of the former Shubenacadie Indian Residential School will analyze areas not included during an earlier investigation by Parks Canada

CITYnews halifax \ Canadian Pressa

Listen to this article

SIPEKNE’KATIK, NOVA SCOTIA — The federal government is providing more than $326,000 for healing programs and fieldwork to find potential unmarked graves near a former Nova Scotia residential school.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller made the announcement today during a visit to the Sipekne’katik First Nation, north of Halifax.

The federal money is targeted for research, memorialization and search operations on the grounds where the largest residential school in Atlantic Canada once stood.

Fieldwork on the grounds of the former Shubenacadie Indian Residential School will analyze areas not included during an earlier investigation by Parks Canada.

The federal funding is also to help with commemorative events such as the installation of a plaque to honour the missing children who attended the residential school.

A total of $209.8 million over five years was included in the recent federal budget to help communities document, locate and memorialize burial sites at former residential schools.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2022.

The Canadian Press