Our Story

A living and ever-evolving e-course since 2014

Overview:
This acclaimed online course, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, is a living document made possible thanks to an amazing collective of dedicated contributors, authors, advisors, producers, supporters and fans. Its first version was produced in 2014 under the direction of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation as a direct response to the TRC’s Calls to Action to educate all Canadians. It has since grown into the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation course, which has become the gold standard for reconciliation e-education and has educated hundreds of great organizations from coast-to-coast-to-coast, reaching over 600,000 learners.

4 Seasons of Reconciliation was created with the vison and guidance from Indigenous people to ensure accuracy and empathy through the course. Through the power of transformative story-telling and engaging multi-media from across the country, our organization lives by the words, “nothing about us without us.”

4 Seasons of Reconciliation: an e-course and film series

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report was released, a new short film series was created for the course, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation set out to capture several stories of reconciliation, including two short films envisioned and created by the Elders Circle, Kehte-ayak. 

What started as a documentary film series on the immediate after-effects of the final report from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has enhanced the e-course and transformed into one of the sought-after anti-racism course training organizations,  educational institutes, corporations, and community organizations Canadian history and anti-racism with Indigenous perspectives and first-hand accounts.

The story the course, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, begins with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) in 2014, who were tasked with the education of Canadians on residential schools and supporting Survivors. In the final year of their mandate, they began a search for legacy projects to carry on their important education work. 

This search led to the co-creation of an in-depth multimedia viewer guide for Productions Cazabon’s film, 3rd World Canada. As the AHF was winding down, the film 3rd World Canada was continuing to raise awareness through the film and the strong voices of young people of the Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI). Under the executive direction and course design of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation in 2014 came the first edition of what is now the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation resource, designed to reach the most important demographic of learners: students in classrooms.

Later, in 2014 the CEO of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, Mike DeGagné, who oversaw this initiative, partnered again with the filmmakers of the film, the Nation Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and First Nations University of Canada. This time, the team worked to host a Royal visit and reconciliation education trip in remote fly-in Northwestern Ontario with Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Countess of Wessex, followed with a special symposium event at Nipissing University.

The first edition of the course was released to the education sector to community acclaim. With the support of the National Education Symposiums hosted across the country by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the course was released to Ministries of Education and school boards across the country. Translated to French in 2015, the course is widely in use in school boards, Indigenous schools and post-secondary campuses across Canada. 

Upon the release of Productions Cazabon’s 4-part Reconciliation Documentary series, the original course for the education sector was adapted for the workplace and corporate Canada, centering on the award-winning film Economic Reconciliation (2018) and the Calls to Action for the workplace. Economic Reconciliation was the first film to address the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Call to Action #92 for the workplace, shedding new light on the reconciliation landscape and bringing the term economic reconciliation to the forefront of the conversation inside corporate Canada's boardrooms.

The film premiered to a sold-out audience in October of 2018 at the Economic Club of Canada under the film’s original title, Reconciliation on Bay St. It was deemed to be the first event engaging and awakening corporate Canada to the truth and reconciliation movement. At every table sat local Residential School Survivors, and an inspiring address by Chief Cadmus Delorme (featured in the documentary) surprised and impacted Bay Street. 

The next steps on the journey included testing the new workplace course with our Indigenous work site partner, Whitecap Dakota Nation. The course was tested with employees in the Nation as well as with their industry partners spanning across 7 sectors. The course content, the film and the eLearning technology was tested with executives and front-line employees working with Whitecap Dakota Nation and their industry partners, along with Indigenous employees and residential school Survivor employees. Their input shaped the workplace adaptations as well as changing the title of the film from Reconciliation on Bay Street to its current title, Economic Reconciliation. The 4 Seasons of Reconciliation course continues to be used for employee training in Whitecap Dakota Nation and many of their industry partners. It is proudly showcased at their hotel and golf course.

The workplace edition of 4 Seasons of Reconciliation was then premiered in Saskatoon and formally launched at the Bridging Economic Reconciliation conference hosted by the Saskatoon Tribal Council in 2018, with the support and presentation of Chief Darcy Bear, also featured in the film, Economic Reconciliation. 

In 2021, the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation grew again. This time, in a special partnership with Royal Bank of Canada and First Nations University of Canada, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation was offered free to any and all Canadians, in addition to becoming mandatory training for RBC employees. The goal of this partnership was to erase the cost barrier to learning about truth & reconciliation and open the door to as much public participation as possible. This highly successful event delivered reconciliation learning to 40,000 Canadians in 2021-22. 

With RBC, and soon after Deloitte, BMO and CIBC, the course was adapted to be specific and catered to the corporate sector, creating a new executive summary of the course for high-level executives as well as a customized version for front-line employees. This same year, the SCORM edition of the course was launched to allow organizations to host their custom versions on their own eLearning and talent development portals. 

With the National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education (NCCIE), Reconciliation Education developed localized Indigenous Language content to expand the Reconciliation video library and participate in documenting Indigenous language content to benefit all our learners. In Ontario, with the Ministry of Education's Indigenous team, a special video series was created with Indigenous knowledge-keepers and Lakehead University, which celebrated the seven main language families of Ontario. This video series is available with the course, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, as well as in all Ontario classrooms.  

In Atlantic Canada, with the participation of Elder David Perley (Maliseet educator) in New-Brunswick and Senator Brian Francis (first Mi'gmaw Senator and former Chief of Abegweit First Nation) in Prince Edward Island, special content was filmed for students and workplaces across Atlantic regions to bring their learning closer to home.

In Québec, with the support of BMO, two new French-language videos were created for the workplace course with the participation of the world-acclaimed Indigenous Québec actor, Samian. These customized offerings are part of the mandatory training of all future nurses and nurse aides at all CEGEPs across Québec. 

Throughout the partnership with First Nations University of Canada, 4 scholarships were created for Indigenous students at First Nations University of Canada. These continue to be funded and have supported many Indigenous students since 2020. Reconciliation Education proudly donates 10% of all proceeds to these scholarships.

Through collaboration with membership organizations, accountants, lawyers, chambers of commerce, hospitals, libraries, and more - 4 Seasons of Reconciliation quickly spread across workplaces and classrooms across the country. Investments in the best eLearning technologies and innovations in customizations and adaptations of the course have led to its integration in a wide variety of organizations and sectors across the country. 

In 2022, new content was innovated with client IKEA Canada to adapt the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation course to the retail sector for live training. 

For IKEA Canada, a thematic collection of short 15-minute e-learning was created, perfect for retail clients looking for a solution for short, high-impact learning that could be completed in group sessions on the floor. This bite-sized learning experience was offered to all 8,000 employees, providing valuable feedback to the Reconciliation Education development team. This course version is now used in the corporate sector and other retail clients to adapt to shorter time frames, such as hospitality, retail and manufacturing sectors. IKEA credits this course as the most transformative impact in shifting their workplace learning culture and directly strengthening their Reconciliation Action Plan.

As the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation continued to grow, its circle of friends and influencers grew as well. Introduced in 2022, the Outdoor Learning School & Store would help push the course in a new direction: catering to outdoor and Land-based educators who enjoy learning in group settings with a mix of speakers, group reflections/discussions along with the online experience of our classic course. 

Beginning with a customized course and an Every Child Matters speaker series, this collaboration evolved into new offerings. First with Season 2: Learning from the Land in 2023-24, and in 2024-25, the Turtle Island edition of the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation. This special innovation brings the content of 4 Seasons of Reconciliation across the United States, and will eventually include Mexico in a future Spanish edition. This collaboration of dedication and inspiration continues to produce new and meaningful reconciliation learning content.

In 2024, Reconciliation Education found that the reconciliation landscape in Canada had evolved, with organizations and learners looking to expand their learning and Indigenize their policies. In response to these growing needs, Reconciliation Education sought a new partner. In 2025, a new partnership bloomed with OneHoop: creating a 51% Indigenous owned company that will not only continue to deliver 4 Seasons of Reconciliation eLearning content, but also provide opportunities to clients and learners to level up their reconciliation activities with new services and event possibilities.This new stage in the life of 4 Seasons of Reconciliation promises new growth, stronger programming, and holistic service for years to come.

Throughout the journey so far, 4 Seasons of Reconciliation has helped many Canadians to start their Reconciliation journey, educating them on the true history of Canada and highlighting the importance of reconciliation for a better future for everyone. With the invaluable contributions of advisors, collaborators, visionaries, and partners, this resource has become the gold-standard for reconciliation education in Canada.

Reconciliation Education expresses its gratitude to everyone who has walked this journey so far, and looks forward to what is next on the horizon as we climb the mountain toward reconciliation, together. As the late Honourable Murray Sinclair so wisely said, "Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out of it." And together: we can.