Residential schools in Canada operated for more than 160 years. The system began as early as the 1830s with church-run mission schools and became federally funded and officially formalized around 1883. The last residential school closed in 1996 in Saskatchewan. Throughout this time, approximately 150,000 Indigenous children attended these schools across most provinces and territories, except a few. The system was characterized by forced assimilation policies, removing children from their families and cultures, with lasting harmful effects on Indigenous peoples.