Annual Orange Shirt Day Healing Walk prompts street closures

People attend the second annual Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Friday, September 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Several roads in downtown Winnipeg will be temporarily closed Tuesday to allow for an annual walk to honour survivors and victims of the residential school system on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The fifth annual Orange Shirt Day Healing Walk, hosted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, will start at 11 a.m. after a pipe ceremony at Oodena Circle at The Forks.

Participants in the walk will travel to the RBC Convention Centre, prompting southbound Main Street between York Avenue and Portage Avenue to close midway when the walk is active on Main Street.

The walk will also close several other roads, according to a news release from the City of Winnipeg:

• Northbound Edmonton Street (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.);
• Westbound Forks Market Road from Israel Asper Way to The Forks (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.);
• Northbound Israel Asper Way from Forks Market Road to York Avenue (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.);
• Westbound York Avenue from Israel Asper Way to Main Street (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.);
• Northbound Main Street from Portage Avenue to York Avenue (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.);
• Eastbound Portage Avenue from Main Street to Edmonton Street (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.); and
• Eastbound York Avenue between Edmonton Street and Carlton Street (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

Following the walk, an Orange Shirt Day Pow Wow grand entry is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the RBC Convention on the third floor.

Regular updates on lane closures in Winnipeg can be found on the city’s website.

Transit re-route and schedule information is accessible online or by contacting 311.

CTV News has compiled a list of several events in Winnipeg marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.