This Open Letter calls on the Government of Canada to issue the National Apology recommended by the Senate of Canada in its 2018 report, *The Shame Is Ours*. It outlines the history and scope of the harm, the urgency of this moment, and the need for national acknowledgment.
Organizations across Canada are invited to sign on in support.
OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, call on the Government of Canada to issue a formal National Apology for the coercive and discriminatory adoption practices that separated more than 350,000 mothers from their newborns in Canada between the 1940s and the 1980s.
These practices caused lifelong and intergenerational harm to mothers, to the children who were taken, and to the families and communities around them. The Senate of Canada documented this history in its 2018 report, *The Shame Is Ours*, and recommended that the Government of Canada issue a National Apology within one year. Eight years later, no apology has been issued and none of the recommendations have been acted on.
On May 26, 2026, a federal petition calling for a National Apology was read in the House of Commons, placing this harm into the public record and triggering a 45‑day period in which the government must issue a response. This moment represents a rare and critical window for action.
A National Apology is a necessary step toward acknowledging the harm that was done and honouring the mothers, the children who were taken, and the families who have carried this trauma for generations. An apology cannot undo the past, but it can affirm the truth, recognize the injustice, and open the door to healing.
We urge the Government of Canada to issue the National Apology recommended by the Senate Committee without further delay.
Signed,
Canadians for a National Apology
Organizations
Joyce Arthur (she/her)
Executive Director
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC‑CDAC)
Province/Territory: National
Meghan Doherty
Director of Policy & Advocacy
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Province/Territory: National
Wendy Rowney
Adoption Support Kinship (ASK)
Province/Territory: Ontario
Marnie Tetz
Forget Me Not Family Society
Province/Territory: BC
Rose Spence Elle / iel : She / they
Coordonnatrice | Coordinator
Centre de ressource féministe | Feminist Resource Centre
Syndicat étudiant de l’Université d’Ottawa | University of Ottawa Student Union
Province/Territory : Ontario
Nneka MacGregor, LL.B.
Executive Director
WomenatthecentrE
Province/Territory: National
Peggy Nash
Executive Director
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Province/Territory: National
Erin Filby
Board Chair
Institute for Change Leaders
Province/Territory: National
Ruth Fox
Board Secretary and Ontario Director
Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH)
Province/Territory: National
Howard Sapers
Executive Director
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Province/Territory: National
Anuradha Dugal
Executive Director
Women’s Shelters Canada
Province/Territory: National
Christa Baron
Executive Director
Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS)
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Yusuf Faqiri
Founder
Justice for Soli
Province/Territory: National
Jovial Orlachi Osundu
Executive Director
Réseau des services pour victimes de violence du Nouveau-Brunswick
Province/Territory : New Brunswick
Danya O’Malley
Executive Director
PEI Family Violence Prevention Services Inc
Province/Territory – PEI
Cathie McKay
Manager
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Ashley Fleming
Executive Director
Battlefords Interval House
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Lauren Dahnke
Executive Director
SOFIA House Inc.
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Tracey MacEwan (she/her), Executive Director
Yukon Women's Transition Home Society
Province/Territory: Yukon Territory
Meaghan Chambers
Executive Director
Elizabeth Fry Society Simcoe Muskoka
Province/Territory: Ontario
Ruth Goba
Executive Director
WOMEN'S LEGAL EDUCATION AND ACTION FUND (LEAF)/ FONDS D'ACTION ET D'ÉDUCATION
JURIDIQUE POUR LES FEMMES (FAEJ)
Province/Territory: Ontario
Fernanda Solorza (she/her)
Outreach & Communications Coordinator
Gender Empowerment Centre (GEM)
University of Victoria Students’ Society
Province/Territory: British Columbia
DJ Larkin
Executivie Director
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Province/Territory: National
Maira Martin
Executive Director
Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes
Province/Territory: Ontario
Penny Rankin
President
National Council of Women of Canada
Province/Territory: National
Suzanne Zaccour (She/Her | Elle)
Director of Legal Affairs
National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL)
Province/Territory: National
Joan Bear
Executive Director
North East Outreach and Support Services, Inc.
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Sol Thompson
Organizer
Simcoe County 4 Palestine
Province/Territory: Ontario
Christine Nayler
Co-founder and Director
Ryan's Hope
Province/Territory: National
Amber Straker
Executive Director
Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO)
Province/Territory: Ontario
Public Figures/ Legal Scholars
Dr. Jennifer L. Schulz
Professor
Faculty of Law University of Manitoba
Lucinda Vandervort
Professor emerita
College of Law,
University of Saskatchewan
Martha Jackman
Professor emerita
Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa
Benjamin Perrin
Professor
Peter A. Allard School of Law
The University of British Columbia