Help Secure the Future of the Human Rights Monument

The initial fundraising campaign in the 80s to build the monument brought in close to $1 million from individuals, groups, religious organizations, labour unions, businesses and governments.

Tens of thousands of Canadians were involved in the first phase, from the two Ottawa girls who put a symbolic spade into the ground in November, 1988 to the miners of the Seven Sisters granite mine at Lac Dubonnet, Manitoba who provided the granite covering the façade of the monument’s archway built in 1990.

Since the unveiling, donations, large and small, have resulted in the addition of the Algonquin statement, the Aboriginal languages plaques, the interpretive plaque and the lighting.

In 2015, the 25th anniversary of the monument, lighting was installed, thanks to the design of the late Philip Gabriel of Gabriel Mackinnon and a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation along with private donations.

From 2015 to end of 2017, contributions were sought for ongoing repairs and maintenance, and for the endowment fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa.

The latter fund became the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights Legacy Fund after the dissolution of the CTHR Corporation on February 14, 2018. Annual interest from the Legacy Fund has been earmarked for the J. Carlisle Hanson Award in Human Rights at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The Canadian Tribute to Human Rights Inc. was a registered charity under the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act.

Recognition of Major Donors

A contribution of $5,000 or more is recognized as a major donation. Major donors' names are inscribed on bronze plaques or on granite plaques at the monument, and on this website.