Carney speaks in Edmonton as ceremonies held across Canada for Truth and Reconciliation Day

Ceremonies were being held across Canada for the sixth consecutive year to honour the survivors of residential schools, and for those who never made it home.

Events were held in Toronto, Ottawa, and in Edmonton where Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a ceremony.

In Ottawa, the annual Remembering the Children event took place on Parliament Hill.

A 60 metre-long cloth bearing the names of children who died as a result of residential schools was carried through the crowd.

Guests and participants were encouraged to bring a pair of children’s shoes to place at the front of the stage to honour the children who attended residential schools.

READ MORE: Hamilton, Halton, Niagara mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

In Toronto, there was music, dancing and workshops at the Indigenous Legacy Gathering.

Over in Edmonton, Carney said it is important to reflect on a “dark chapter” in Canada’s history.

“Today is about all the truth, and it’s for the children — those children, those survivors, those who didn’t survive, but for the children,” said Carney.

“We were punished for speaking our language, we were taught very poor English by French clergy and teachers that spoke French to each other, but never taught us how to speak French,” said Marilyn Buffalo, an Elder of the Samson Cree Nation. “So very culturally confused as children, and so many of us defied the authorities and to the guns of our great-grandmothers and continued to speak our language.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in its landmark 2015 final report, that the school system was a central element of a state-backed policy of cultural genocide.

WATCH MORE: Communities reflect on Canadian history for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation