Orange Shirt Day is observed in Canada every September 30 as an annual awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the impact of the Indian residential school system on Indigenous communities and promoting the message that "Every Child Matters." The campaign was initiated in 2013 by Phyllis Jack Webstad, a residential school survivor, who shared her experience of having her new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school. This date was chosen because it coincides with the time when Indigenous children were taken from their families to attend these schools, which were designed to assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture. On this day, people wear orange shirts and participate in various activities such as public lectures, memorial walks, and film screenings to educate others about the history and consequences of the residential school system. The last federally operated residential school, Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996, and the Canadian government issued a public apology to affected families in 2008.