Following the Mandela Dialogues on Memory Work 1, the Canadian participants decided to introduce the methodology to Canada. Drawing on the expertise and methodological advice of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Global Leadership Academy, and in the context of the Enoch Cree Nation and the broader Canadian Indigenous experience, the Nelson Mandela Dialogues Canada came into being in summer 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Grounded in the context of the Canadian history of colonial legislation, oppression and cultural genocide described in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Canada, 1996) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC, Canada, 2015), the dialogue considered the recommendations of the TRC to address healing and reconciliation within the areas of child welfare, correctional and justice system.