09/17/2025
CN Tower and Orange Shirt Society Unite to Illuminate Orange on September 30, 2025, Honouring Orange Shirt Day and Phyllis Webstad
Toronto, ON – DATE – The CN Tower, in collaboration with the Orange Shirt Society, is proud to announce that on September 30, 2025, the Tower will be illuminated in orange to mark Orange Shirt Day / National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This lighting stands as a powerful symbol of remembrance and commitment to the path of Truth and Reconciliation.
Orange Shirt Day was founded by Phyllis Webstad (Secwepemc from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation), who shared her story of having her orange shirt taken away on her first day at residential school. Her experience became the spark for a movement across Canada, reminding us all that Every Child Matters.
This year’s illumination connects the territories of Toronto, the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, with the territories of Phyllis Webstad in Secwepemcúl’ecw, symbolizing unity, remembrance, and collective healing.
“To see the CN Tower lit in orange is a powerful reminder that truth and reconciliation belongs to all of us,” said Sheena Merling, Ambassador for the Orange Shirt Society. “By honouring Phyllis Webstad’s story and the thousands of children taken to residential schools, we bring communities together across territories to say, with one voice, that Every Child Matters.”
The Orange Shirt Society encourages residents and visitors to gather at the base of the CN Tower and look up on the evening of September 30 as the orange glow shines across the city skyline, beginning at sunset and fully visible after dusk.
The Orange Shirt Society and CN Tower invite all Canadians to reflect on the history and legacy of residential schools, and to commit to meaningful actions of reconciliation in their communities.
