• All Indian hospitals in Canada close or convert to desegregated institutions. The formal Indian Hospital system began in the 1930s and prior to this, at least three major Indian hospitals operated in BC: Prince Rupert (Miller Bay), Sardis (Coqualeetza), and Nanaimo.

• The last residential school in BC closes – St. Mary’s residential school in Mission, which was also the first to open in 1867. There were 18 Federal-Church operated Residential Schools in BC: Ahousaht, Alberni, Alert Bay, Anahim Lake, Cariboo, Christie, Sardis (Coqualeetza), Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kitimaat, Kuper Island, Lejac, Lower Post, Lytton, Mission, Port Simpson, Sechelt, and Squamish.

• ​The Chee Mamuk (New Work) program was developed by STD/AIDS Control in 1989 to address the rising rates of HIV and AIDS in BC’s Indigenous communities. The mandate of the program at this time was to provide culturally appropriate on-site community-based HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and sexually transmitted disease (STD) education and training to Indigenous communities, organizations and professionals within BC. 

• The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples releases its final five-volume report. The Royal Commission was established to provide a study of the evolution of the relationship between Indigenous Peoples, the Government of Canada and Canadian society.

• The Government of Canada responds to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples with the creation of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation provided community-based and Survivor-focused healing projects across Canada and built a foundation for healing support and research based on community needs and the legacies of residential schools.

• ​The Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada is created to manage and resolve the large number of abuse claims filed by former students against the federal government.
• The BC Provincial Health Officer issued a landmark report on the health and well-being of Indigenous people. The Health and Well-being of Aboriginal People in British Columbia highlighted significant gaps in health outcomes. The report concluded that the risks of developing diabetes, pneumonia, or HIV/AIDS or experiencing injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents are greater for Indigenous people than for other British Columbians.

• Canada, BC and First Nations Leadership Council sign the Transformative Change Accord. The Accord recognizes the need to strengthen relationships on a government-to-government basis, and affirms the parties’ commitment to achieve three goals:

1. Close the gaps between First Nations and other British Columbians in the areas of education, health, housing and economic opportunities over the next 10 years;
2. Reconcile Aboriginal rights and title with those of the Crown; and,
3. Establish a new relationship based on mutual respect and recognition.

• The Government of Canada and nearly 80,000 Residential School Survivors reach the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement in which Canada commits to individual compensation for Survivors, additional funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
  
• BC and First Nations leaders agree to enter into a new relationship guided by principles of trust, recognition and respect for Aboriginal rights and title. The New Relationship focuses on closing the gaps in quality of life between First Nations and other British Columbians.
• The First Nations Health Blueprint for British Columbia, developed by the First Nations Leadership Council, identifies a new vision for First Nations health systems, and identifies a number of gaps and barriers in health services in the areas of: delivery and access; sharing in improvements to Canadian health care; promoting health and wellbeing; monitoring progress; clarifying roles and responsibilities between governments and organizations; and developing ongoing collaborative working relationships.
• Canada, BC and First Nations Leadership Council endorse the Transformative Change Accord: First Nations Health Plan and First Nations Health Plan Memorandum of Understanding​, and agree to develop and implement a new First Nations health governance structure in BC.

• The Office of the Prime Minister of Canada issues an apology to former students of the residential school system. The Prime Minister also delivers the apology in the House of Commons, where Indigenous leaders and Survivors stood as witnesses to the speech.

• ​​BC Tripartite Framework Agreement on First Nations Health Governance is signed and sets the beginning of First Nations, Canada and BC working together in a new First Nations Health governance structure, including the legal commitment to transfer federal programs and services to BC First Nations within two years without prejudice to title and rights.

• The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) takes over responsibility from the federal government for the planning, management, and delivery of health programs for First Nations in BC. The transfer was guided by the First Nations Health Council (FNHC) and established in a series of agreements with the Government of Canada and the Province of BC that created a new First Nations health governance structure with political representation and advocacy through the FNHC; planning, management and delivery of health programs and services through FNHA; and, technical advice and counsel from the First Nations Health Directors Association​. 

• First Declaration of Commitment to Cultural Safety and Humility in Health Services for First Nations and Aboriginal People in BC, signed by the Ministry of Health, PHSA, regional health authorities and FNHA.
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada releases summary report 94 Calls to Action (June) and final report (December), with health-specific calls to action from 18 to 24.
• Canada removes objector status to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples​ (UNDRIP) and adopts the declaration without qualification.
• Canada announces a public inquiry into systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls, and the underlying social, economic, cultural, institutional, and historical causes that contribute to the ongoing violence and particular vulnerabilities of Indigenous women and girls.
  

• Registrars of all colleges in BC Health Regulators (BCHR) sign the Declaration of Commitment – Cultural Safety and Humility in the Regulation of Health Professionals Serving First Nations and Aboriginal People in British Columbia​.

2018

By 2018, early conversations about the importance of trust in the context of Reconciliation were held with program area staff and BCCDC leadership at a gathering place on Tsleil-Waututh territory.  As a result of this foundational work, small organic pockets of conversations and ‘Reconcilia(c)tion’ work caught on at the grassroots level in the organization. Although important work began at the grassroots level, without consistent and sustained leadership support, these efforts occurred in spurts and did not have coordinated momentum required to be sustained over the next several years.  

• ​The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act passes into law in BC, which establishes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the Province’s framework for reconciliation, as called for by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
• The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls releases Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls​, which outlines 231​ Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadian to address the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
• BC ends birth alerts, or hospital alerts, an order that directed hospital staff to notify social workers when they deem there is a potential safety risk to infants at birth without the consent of the expectant parents. Birth alerts were primarily issued for marginalized women and, disproportionately, Indigenous women. Indigenous communities, organizations and Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls called for an end to this practice.

• In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care is released. Recommendations from the review stress the need for immediate, principled and comprehensive efforts to eliminate Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the health care system.
• PHSA and the regional health authorities issue a joint response to the report​, accepting the report’s finding on Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in BC’s health system and committing to implement all recommendations within their responsibility to lead, and committing to partner and support implementation of all others.

• BC’s Ministry of Health establishes the role of Associate Deputy Minister, Indigenous Health within Ministry of Health, as recommended in the In Plain Sight report.
• The Minister of Health announces the appointment of two First Nations people to all health authorities’ boards of directors.
• BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner releases Disaggregated demographic data collection in British Columbia: The grandmother perspective​, which outlines a framework for disaggregated data collection that is grounded in “the grandmother perspective” offered by Gwen Phillips of the Ktunaxa Nation and recommends the development of legislation that is focused on building respectful relationships with marginalized communities to ensure that community needs and voices are meaningfully included in data collection, use and disclosure processes.

• PHSA hires its first Vice President of Indigenous Health, k’ʷunəmɛn (Kwunuhmen), Joe Gallagher (Tla’amin Nation)

• Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation confirms the findings of 215 unmarked remains of children on the ground of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. This was the first of ongoing confirmations of unmarked children’s remains at residential school sites throughout the province. Nations continue to conduct searches and share their findings.
• Canada passes UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act that affirms the UN Declaration as an international human rights instrument that can help interpret and apply Canadian law. It also provides a framework to advance implementation of the UN Declaration at the federal level.

​Tsielth Smun’eem, a mural created by Quy’utsun artist Charlene Johnny, is added to the lobby of BCCDC’s head office to offer a welcoming and uplifting tribute that honours the children, survivors, and ancestors of Residential Schools. 

• ​FNHA releases Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study, highlighting how Keegan Combes of Skwah First Nation passed away from a delayed diagnosis following an accidental poisoning. This case study provides an opportunity for health-care professionals to learn from and reflect on personal and systemic biases that shape their practice.
• The province releases the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan (Declaration Act Action Plan) with four themes, one of which is the eradication of Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination. The Declaration Act Action Plan articulates a clear action to implement the In Plain Sight report recommendations. It also provides direction to implement the actions from a distinctions-based approach, and to follow shared understandings, including legal plurality that recognizes that within Canada there are multiple legal orders, including Indigenous laws and legal orders with distinct roles, responsibilities and authorities.
  

• The Health Standards Organization releases the BC Cultural Safety and Humility Standard developed by a First Nations-led technical committee with input from Métis Nation BC. The Standard provides guidance to health organizations on the responsibility, structures and procedures that are required in governance, leadership, and service provision to establish a culture of Indigenous-specific anti-racism and Indigenous cultural safety and humility in its services and programs.
• The BC College of Physicians and Surgeons and the BC College of Nurses and Midwives lead the development of a practice standard on Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility and Anti-Racism and the 11 regulatory colleges adopt the practice standard. The practice standard sets clear expectations for how all registrants, including physicians and surgeons, nurses, and midwives, must provide culturally safe and anti-racist care for Indigenous Peoples.

• Pope Francis visits Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut. On July 25, while in Maskwacîs, Alberta, situated on Treaty 6 territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people, Pope Francis recognized the abuses experienced at residential schools that resulted in cultural destruction, loss of life, and ongoing trauma lived by Indigenous Peoples in every region of this country. Pope Francis made further remarks in Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Quebec, and in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

• PHSA unveils its refreshed purpose, vision and values statements and a set of six foundational Coast Salish teachings​. The teachings were gifted in ceremony to the organization’s Board of Directors by Coast Salish Knowledge Keeper, Siem Te’ta-in, Shane Pointe. The teachings inspire people to grow and serve in new ways, embracing the truth of Indigenous-specific racism, learning to incorporate lived experiences of Indigenous peoples into quality care, and using them as guidance to do our best as human beings who are relationally accountable to one another through: 
  
• Thee eat  (truth)
• Eyhh slaxin  (good medicine)
• Nuts a maht (we are one)
• Whax hooks in shqwalowin (open your hearts and your mind)
  
• Kwum kwum stun shqwalowin (make up your mind to be strong)
  
• Tee ma thit (do your best)
  
• PHSA confirms that its first North Star priority is to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism and create an anti-racist, safe culture, free from discrimination.

• The BC Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation develops and releases the Distinctions-Based Approach Primer​ to assist in building an understanding of the legal basis for, and core elements of, a distinctions-based approach in all of the Province’s relations with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and communities.
• First Nations Health Council launches their 10-year strategy on the social determinants of health: A framework for the future to strengthen the made-in-BC First Nations health governance structure to better mobilize partners in BC and across Canada and entrench Indigenous self-determination in health within laws, agreements and sustainable funding.
• First Nations Health Directors Association launches its Strategic Plan, inclusive of an objective to improve First Nations’ experience in the health care system by reducing incidents of Indigenous-specific racism by collaborating with health partners to champion cultural safety and humility in health care.
• ​The Vatican formally repudiates​ "those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political doctrine of discovery." The doctrine of discovery is a theory that served to justify the expropriation by colonizers of Indigenous lands from their rightful owners. The Vatican stated the once claimed papal bulls are “not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Historical research clearly demonstrates that the papal documents in question, written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions, have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith”.

In alignment with Recommendation 14 from the In Plain Sight report, BCCDC hires its first Executive Director, Indigenous Health, Janene Erickson (Nak’azdli Whut’en)