On September 20, 2020, St. John’s City Council passed a Declaration in Support of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This declaration affirms the City’s commitment to building and strengthening respectful relationships with the urban Indigenous community in St. John’s and with all First Peoples across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Newfoundland and Labrador is home to one of the fastest-growing urban Indigenous populations in Canada. The City recognizes the importance of working collaboratively to support inclusion, recognition, and reconciliation.

The declaration outlines a number of key commitments, including participation in First Voice. Active from 2019 to 2025, First Voice brought together Indigenous community members, service providers, and all levels of government to advance truth and reconciliation. Its goal was to support and advance urban Indigenous rights in St. John’s and throughout the province.

Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights

Building on this work, the City of St. John’s and First Light established a Joint Coordinating Committee on Indigenous Rights in 2024, which is named St. John’s Reconciliation Circle.

The committee is responsible for developing recommendations to implement the City’s commitments under the 2020 Declaration. It supports progress on the 2023 Community Action Plan, which includes 42 Calls for Change—18 of which fall partly or entirely within the City’s jurisdiction.

The committee is made up of an equal number of representatives from the City of St. John’s and the First Light.

The City also introduced a Municipal Reconciliation Liaison position, which focuses on advancing the Calls for Change at the municipal level and supporting strategic coordination between First Light and city staff. 

For more information, please refer to the St. John’s Reconciliation Circle's Terms of Reference.

The City of St. John’s remains committed to fostering inclusion for all residents through initiatives such as the Inclusion Advisory Committee and its working groups. Council also looks forward to incorporating relevant elements of the First Voice Community Action Plan into the St. John’s Healthy City Strategy.

Declaration in Support of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In order to promote and strengthen mutually respectful relationships with the urban Indigenous community in St. John’s and with all other First Peoples in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the City of St. John’s hereby recognizes that:

• The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, of which the City of St. John’s is the capital, exists on the ancestral homelands of the Inuit, the Innu, the Mi’kmaq and the Beothuk;
• the culture of the Beothuk has been lost forever and can never be recovered;
• Indigenous Peoples continue to endure many hardships and injustices that began with first contact and that have created significant social, economic and health disparities; 
• Indigenous Peoples were excluded from the Terms of Union when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949, which limited access to programs and services that otherwise would have been available to them; 
• Indigenous Peoples have distinct and diverse histories, cultures, and identities;
• self-determination is an inherent right of all Indigenous Peoples; and 
• St. John’s has the fastest growing urban Indigenous population in Canada.

Acting therefore in support of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the City of St. John’s hereby declares its commitment to:

• support and promote the implementation of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP);
• work to decolonize the City by making indigenization and anti-racism priorities with respect to its governance, municipal services, and infrastructure;
• recognize and celebrate the many contributions that Indigenous Peoples have made and continue to make to our City, province, and country;
• maintain membership in First Voice while continuing to build equal partnerships with other Indigenous organizations in the City;
• collaborate with the urban Indigenous community to develop, promote, and implement a shared Community Action Plan and to report annually to Council on progress toward achieving its objectives; and
• work with all levels of government, including the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Canada, to recognize, support, and advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples.