Stand on Parliament Hill as the Memorial Cloth Is Carried Forward
At noon on September 30, the lawn below the Peace Tower fills for the national commemorative gathering, Remembering the Children, broadcast live from Parliament Hill on unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Traditional Territory. The ninety-minute multilingual ceremony, produced by APTN, CBC/Radio-Canada and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation with support from Canadian Heritage, opens with sacred ceremonies and the sacred Memorial Cloth honouring the children who never returned home. Hosts Earl Wood and Melissa Mollen Dupuis guide a program that includes residential school Survivors Jennie Ehaloak, Jacquie Bouvier and Bernard Andreason, alongside live performances from First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists: headliner Tia Wood, Soleil Launière, Silla, and Adrian Sutherland with guest MJ Dandeneau. If you are in the city, arrive early and stand with the crowd; if you cannot, APTN News coverage from Ottawa begins at 11 a.m. ET, and the ceremony itself airs at noon in English and Inuktitut, followed through the afternoon in Anishinaabemowin, French, Mohawk and Plains Cree.
Make a Weekend of It at Rideau Hall
The commemorative weekend starts before September 30. On September 26 and 27, Rideau Hall — the official residence of the Governor General — opens its doors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for reconciliation-oriented programming: interactive activities, Indigenous artwork on display throughout the residence, and art-making focused on learning and healing. The detail worth planning around is in the Reception Room, where from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Inuk Elder Aigah Attagutsiak lights and maintains a qulliq, the traditional Inuit oil lamp, and visitors can learn about its history and significance. Build your morning around that window, then take the rest of the residence at your own pace.
Tune In, Wherever the Day Finds You
The ceremony travels far beyond the Hill, and the broadcast schedule is your map for the day. Plan your listening and viewing around these Eastern Time slots:
- 11 a.m. — APTN News live coverage from Ottawa begins, anchored by Dennis Ward and Tiar Wheatle.
- 12 p.m. — the ceremony in English (APTN, aptntv.ca, live nationwide) and in Inuktitut.
- 1:30 p.m. — a 30-minute post-show.
- 2 p.m. — Anishinaabemowin broadcast and a French discussion ahead of the French rebroadcast.
- 2:30 p.m. — French broadcast; 3:30 p.m. — Mohawk.
- 6 p.m. — English repeat; 6:30 p.m. — Plains Cree; 11:30 p.m. — Inuktitut repeat.
Repeats continue October 1 on APTN Languages, and the full ceremony streams on demand on APTN+ from October 2. In Ottawa, CKCU 93.1 FM carries the radio broadcast at 4:30 p.m.; CBC offers a one-hour primetime radio special at 8 p.m. local, and Radio-Canada airs on ICI TÉLÉ and ICI TOU.TV from 3 to 4:30 p.m. with an ICI RDI rebroadcast from 10 to 11:30 p.m. and a live webcast on Espaces autochtones. The ceremony also reaches AMI-télé/AMI-tv, CPAC, CTV, Citytv, TFO, TVO, Knowledge, Uvagut TV and SiriusXM channels including Indigiverse. Wherever you are in the city that day, a screen or a frequency is within reach.
Carry the Day Into the Week
September 30 is a Wednesday in 2026, which puts the Rideau Hall open doors on the weekend before it and the broadcast repeats on October 1. That shape gives you a natural three-part visit: art and the qulliq at Rideau Hall on the 26th or 27th, the gathering on the Hill at noon on the 30th, and the on-demand ceremony on APTN+ from October 2 for anything you missed or want to sit with again. If you are coming from out of town, anchor yourself downtown near the Hill for the 30th and treat the Rideau Hall weekend as its own outing. Broadcast details are updated as the date approaches and are subject to change, so check the schedules before you travel.
Start with the dates that are fixed: September 26 and 27 at Rideau Hall, and noon on September 30 on Parliament Hill. Mark them, book your travel around them, and let the rest of the day — the ceremonies, the Memorial Cloth, the voices in six languages — unfold in front of you.