The Anglican Church of Canada serves as the governing body of Anglican diocese in Canada. It was previously known as the Church of England in Canada until 1955 when it changed its name to the current form. The Anglican Church has been present in Canada since the arrival of the first Anglican missionaries and settlers. In the 1850s, Anglican priests and missionaries in Canada began to create local governing councils called synods, thereby giving the Anglican Church of Canada a greater degree of autonomy. The 1861 ruling of the British Privy Council, Long v. Gray, determined that all Anglican Churches in British colonies were to become self-governing. This resulting decision led to the creation of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada in 1893.
The General Synod consists of representatives from all Anglican diocese in Canada and meets every three years to discuss Anglican policies. Between these meetings, the Council of the General Synod, formerly the National Executive Council, carries out General Synod policies and runs the daily operations of the Anglican Church of Canada on a national level. The Council consists of senior Anglican officials and a small group of bishops, clergy, and laity who are elected by the General Synod through the nomination of the Provincial Caucuses. There are four ecclesiastical provinces with each governed by a provincial synod, which is headed by a metropolitan bishop. The provinces are further divided into diocese which can be further divided into archdeaconries and deaneries. These smaller entities perform administrative functions such as building new churches. Diocese also consist of parishes, which are headed by either a rector or an incumbent.
Anglican missionaries frequented Indigenous communities well before the creation of the Indian Act in 1876. They believed that by ministering to Indigenous children, they would return to their parents and spread Anglicanism in their communities. After the passing of the Indian Act in 1876, the Anglicans ran several residential schools in the hope of assimilating Indigenous people. Some Anglican residential schools were not exclusively Government projects as they were funded in part by various Anglican missionary societies. These missionary societies included The Church Missionary Society (CMS), The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent (the New England Company or NEC). In 1969, the Government of Canada took direct control of all residential school, though some Anglican staff stayed and became Government employees.
During the 1990s, the public became more aware of the impacts of residential schools. This led to an increase in litigation against the Government of Canada, which culminated in the creation of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) in 2006. IRSSA outlined the process by which residential school litigation was carried out in addition to creating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). The Anglican Church of Canada was a signatory of this agreement and was made to contribute $15,687,188 towards abuse claims and healing programs. Anglican leaders also worked extensively with the TRC to promote reconciliation and explain the Anglican’s role in the Residential School System.
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