Item R00008524 - Building Maintenance (Plan), Supplies, and Accounts

McKay Indian Residential School (IRS) was located at two different locations. The first, near the Saskatchewan River on Fisher Island, on The Pas reserve six miles west of The Pas from 1914 - 1933; the second was in the town of Dauphin bordered by Whitmore Avenue, Pioneer Avenue, and Ida Street from 1957 - 1988. The IRS was in operation from 1914 - 1988 except for 24 years between 1933 - 1957 (50 years). Effective September 1, 1968, MacKay Student Residence operated only as a student residence/hostel until it officially closed on June 30, 1988.

Other names identifying the school include The Pas location - Pas Boarding School (1914), The Pas Indian Boarding School (1915), John A. MacKay Boarding School (1915), MacKay Indian Boarding School or MacKay Boarding School (1915 - 1927), and MacKay Indian Residential School (1923 - 1933). The Dauphin location - Dauphin Residential School (1957), MacKay Indian Residential School / MacKay Residential School (1957 - 1968), and MacKay Student Residence (1968 - 1988). The IRS was destroyed by fire on March 19, 1933, and was out of operation from 1933 until it was re-established and opened as MacKay IRS on September 1, 1957, in Dauphin.

The Government of Canada was responsible for funding the school, which was managed and operated by the Anglican Church. From 1914 - 1922, the Bishop and the Executive Committee of the Synod of the Diocese of Saskatchewan and Calgary as well as the Archdeacon of Battleford, on behalf of the Bishop of Saskatchewan administered the school. From 1922 - 1933, the Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada operated the IRS. From 1957 - 1962, it was the Indian School Administration of the Anglican Church of Canada in charge, and from 1962 - 1969, the Missionary Society of the Anglican Church of Canada was the administrators. The Diocese of Brandon, Anglican Church of Canada, was contracted to provide chaplaincy services in 1971, 1974, and 1981. In July 1956, a joint schooling agreement was signed by the federal government with the Dauphin-Ochre School Board to provide education services for students in grade 7 and higher who would soon be attending the IRS. On September 1, 1957, the newly re-established IRS opened with an enrolment of approximately 200 residents. Six classrooms were in operation. On May 1, 1962, the federal government signed an agreement with the Missionary Society of the Anglican Church of Canada for the operation of the IRS. The federal government signed agreements with the Anglican Church of Canada to provide chaplaincy services to the IRS.

The grades taught at the IRS from 1914 - 1933 (The Pas) were mostly primary (1, 2, 3) and elementary (4, 5, 6) with junior high (7, 8) from 1929 - 1933. The grades taught at the IRS from 1957 - 1968 (Dauphin) were mainly primary and elementary, with junior high from January 1967 - June 1968 and kindergarten offered from 1957 - 1965. Starting in 1957, IRS students attended local schools in the town of Dauphin, mostly for junior high between 1957-59. From 1959, high school students also attended local schools. In 1968, the IRS was converted to a student residence; and all students were attending local schools. Enrollment statistics for 1981-1988 are not available.