Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a borough in Montreal, has passed a motion recognising May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.
The motion was passed on May 5 and comes as the Tamil nation marks 16 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal, where an estimated 169,796 people were killed by the Sri Lankan army in the final days of the armed conflict.
Tamil activist Subitha Tharmakulasagaram said the recognition is "a powerful step toward truth, justice, and accountability."
"As Tamils in the diaspora, we carry the responsibility to speak for our brothers and sisters back home who have suffered and continue to suffer under the Sri Lankan government. No one is coming to save us; we must be our own saviours," Tharmakulasagaram said.
"We live in safety today because others sacrificed their lives for our future. We must honour that by pursuing education, building financial and political power, and demanding justice for those who have been silenced," she added.
In a letter supporting the motion, the Director General of United Against Hate Canada, Marvin Rotrand, said:
"It is vital to publicly declare that the killings and all aspects of the genocide constitute a crime against humanity. We support the creation of a permanent monument in Montreal honouring the victims and see the work of the City of Brampton in Ontario to create such a monument as exemplary."
In 2022, Canada's parliament adopted a motion recognising May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, making it the first parliament in the world to recognise the Tamil genocide.