Toronto – Spirit Garden opened at Nathan Phillips Square – after 7 years in development – with more than 100 residential school survivors becoming the first to walk in the space alongside Indigenous community members, Mayor Olivia Chow, Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The Spirit Garden is a new permanent space to honour residential school survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities. It will also honour the diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultural traditions.
The Spirit Garden is designed to bridge cross-cultural dialogue through teaching, learning, sharing and healing for both Indigenous communities and all who visit. It responds in part to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 82. It is built on a collective vision, commitment, and responsibility we have to each other and Mother Earth.
The garden’s design centres around the Turtle sculpture, symbolizing the First Mother, a commonality of creation stories for many Indigenous peoples. As the Turtle climbs over the boulder, it represents the strength and resilience of residential school survivors, a process introduced originally as the ‘Restoration of Identity’.
Featured works in the 20,650-square-foot Spirit Garden include:
- A six-foot-tall limestone turtle sculpture, composed of 10 individual pieces and weighing approximately 10 tonnes placed in a reflecting pool and aligned with Magnetic North
- A 36-foot-long stainless-steel spirit canoe with laser-cut artwork and painted infill panels
- A five-foot-tall Inuksuk (traditional Inuit stone landmark)
- A teaching lodge and Kaswentha (Two-Row Wampum walkway)
- A Three Sisters garden planted with beans, squash and corn, accompanied by artwork etched onto Muntz metal panels.
The garden serves as a space for contemplation, gatherings and spiritual ceremonies, open to all people seeking connection and understanding. The reflecting pool’s north wall lists the names of 18 residential schools that once operated in Ontario in stainless-steel lettering as a reminder that “Every Child Matters” and to help ensure that history is not repeated.
To support ongoing operations of the Spirit Garden, the City will create a component of the Council-approved Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnerships Fund to offer annual project funding of $100,000 to be administered in collaboration with Toronto Council Fire – for activities to take place on the Spirit Garden that advance truth and reconciliation.
The Spirit Garden project was led by Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre in partnership with the City of Toronto. The Spirit Garden was designed by Gow Hastings Architects and Two Row Architect, and site construction was done by Buttcon Construction. Funding for the Spirit Garden was provided by Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre, the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada.
More information on the Spirit Garden is available on City of Toronto and Toronto Council Fire 
webpages. A Spirit Garden backgrounder is also available.
“The growth of this Spirit Garden from concept to reality has also seen the blossoming of a partnership with the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre and the City of Toronto. This new public space at Nathan Phillips Square reflects the will of many to see truth and reconciliation prominently embodied by concrete actions.” – Mayor Olivia Chow