The Queen should apologise for the brutal treatment of indigenous children at Canadian residential schools at the hands of the Anglican church, campaigners have said.
A scandal involving the removal of children from their communities before placing them into national schools raged from the late 19th Century.
Community leaders have in recent years demanded apologies and reparations from the Anglican Church which ran 36 residential schools, the most of any religious denomination apart from the Roman Catholic Church, and operated more than 150 Indian day schools between 1820 and 1969.
"There's so much healing that is needed," Caron said.
"We need basic human necessities in our communities and it stems from colonisation. It stems from assimilation and some financial reparations are absolutely helpful in helping us move forward."
Royal sources confirmed that Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will on the first day of their royal visit to Canada acknowledge the treatment of indigenous people in Canada's residential schools.
Within hours of landing in the Commonwealth country in Newfoundland and Labrador in the east of the country, the couple will take part in a "solemn moment of reflection and prayer" in a garden dedicated to indigenous victims of the school system - which saw thousands die or be abused.
Caron said she plans to deliver her request for the queen to formally apologise when she meets the royal couple later this week on the Ottawa leg of their tour.
Canada has been coming to terms with the grim discovery last year of hundreds of human remains in unmarked graves at former church-run schools - institutions to which indigenous children were forcibly relocated for generations.
The Anglican Church ran 36 residential schools — the most of any religious denomination apart from the Roman Catholic Church — and operated more than 150 Indian day schools where thousands of children were mistreated and died.
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools in an effort to assimilate them into Canadian society.
Thousands of children died of disease and other causes, with many never returned to their families.
The Canadian government has acknowledged that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.
Campaigners have received an initial apology from Pope Francis for the conduct of some Catholics at the facilities, leading president of the Métis National Council Cassidy Caron declaring the Queen should be the next to apologise.
Piita Irniq, a former commissioner of Nunavut, said he wants Charles and Camilla to learn about the Indigenous cultures residential schools tried to destroy.
"They should also apologise sincerely for the loss of our very Indigenous being," said Irniq, who survived Sir Joseph Bernier Federal Day School in Chesterfield Inlet, 1,095 km west of Iqaluit.
"That would be a really good thing to do, also for healing and reconciliation between Anglicans, as well as the Royal people."
During their three-day trip, part of Canada's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Charles and Camilla will also recognise the country's response to the conflict in Ukraine following Russia's invasion and meet members of Canada's Ukrainian community, the largest outside Europe.
The royals will also highlight causes they have championed in the past, from supporting the victims of domestic abuse, highlighting the issue of climate change and recognising the role of Canada's Armed Forces.
The tour will begin in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and also see the couple travel to Ottawa and Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories.
Chris Fitzgerald, deputy private secretary to the prince for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, said that following a formal welcome: "Their Royal Highnesses will first take part in a solemn moment of reflection and prayer at the Heart Garden, on the grounds of Government House, with indigenous leaders and community members in the spirit of Reconciliation.
"Heart Gardens are in memory of all indigenous children who were lost to the residential school system, in recognition of those who survived, and the families of both."
Recent royal tours to the Caribbean by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Earl and Countess of Wessex have faced criticism from campaigners seeking reparations for slavery or their nations to become republics, with some images from William and Kate's visit to Jamaica accused by critics of harking back to colonial days.
Mr Fitzgerald said: "Throughout the tour, Their Royal Highnesses will take the opportunity to continue to engage with indigenous communities."
Highlights of the visit will see the couple tour the family-run Quidi Vidi Brewery famous for their "iceberg" beer made from 20,000-year-old water harvested from icebergs which migrate seasonally to Newfoundland.
In Ottawa, Charles will discuss the impact of global warming and engage with leaders from across public, private and philanthropic sectors working to build a green economy.
With the Northwest Territories warming at about three times the global rate, Charles will visit its ice road passage or Yellowknife Bay to see the impact of climate change on local communities.
