Frequently asked questions  

There were two lawsuits, Gardiner v The Attorney General of Canada and Aubichon v The Attorney General of Canada, that were combined into a single class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs alleged that the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan failed to protect students who attended the Île-à-la-Crosse School from harm. Each government agreed to settle the claims made against them. The Court approved both settlement agreements on April 29, 2026.

Learn more about the settlements’ history →

The Government of Canada is paying up to $42.335 million in this settlement:

• $27.335 million is for Experience Payments. Experience Payments are available to all people who attended the Île-à-la-Crosse School (“Survivors” or “Survivor Class Members”) and who were alive as of December 9, 2003. The estates/heirs of Survivors who passed away on or after December 9, 2003, can make a claim on behalf of the Survivor’s estate. Experience Payments acknowledge that all Survivors experienced harmful effects from attending the school.
• $10 million is for the Legacy Fund.
• $5 million is for settlement & claims administration costs.
• Legal fees & honoraria were paid separately and are not coming out of the settlement fund.

Learn more about the settlement with Canada →

The $10 million for the Legacy Fund has been paid by Canada to the Île-à-la-Crosse School Legacy Settlement Corporation. This is an independent, not-for-profit corporation. The Legacy Fund will be used for projects that promote healing, wellness, reconciliation, education, Indigenous language preservation, and/or commemoration for the benefit of Survivors, their families, and communities.

Class members can make applications to the Legacy Fund Corporation for special projects to be paid for from the Fund, so long as the projects meet the objectives of promoting healing, wellness, reconciliation, education, Indigenous language preservation, and/or commemoration. The Corporation’s board will decide which projects will be approved.

Learn more about the Legacy Fund →

The Government of Saskatchewan is paying $40.2 million in this settlement. The funds are being allocated:

• To pay legal fees and settlement administration costs;
• To pay Abuse Compensation to students who experienced sexual abuse or serious physical abuse at the Île-à-la-Crosse School; and,
• If any funds remain, to pay possible top-up Experience Payments only for boarding/residential students (Survivors who stayed overnight in the residence).

Learn more about the settlement with Saskatchewan →

The Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School Steering Committee is a not-for-profit association that has advocated for the collective interests of Île-à-la-Crosse School Survivors for many years. The plaintiffs in the class action are all Steering Committee members, and the other members of the Steering Committee are also Survivors or Intergenerational Survivors.

The Steering Committee was active in representing and advocating for the interests of Survivors in the litigation and negotiation processes and will continue to play this role during the claims process. It does not make decisions about how any of the settlement funds are to be used.

There are two types of people, or “classes”, who are included in the lawsuit and the settlements:

1. Survivor Class: a person who was alive on December 9, 2003, and who attended as a student or for educational purposes at the Île-à-la-Crosse School. This includes day students or “day schoolers” as well as those who stayed in residence.

2. Family Class: the spouse, parent, child, grandchild, or sibling of a Survivor Class Member.

All living Survivor Class Members are eligible for compensation. Some Family Class Members may be eligible for compensation if their Survivor family member passed away on or after December 9, 2003, if they qualify as an heir entitled to compensation under the distribution plan.

All Class Members will benefit indirectly through the projects paid for by the Legacy Fund.

This lawsuit and these settlements are limited to things that happened at, or because of, the Île-à-la-Crosse School and residence from when it opened until it closed around 1976. This includes things that happened at temporary facilities that were used when the school or residence were periodically shut down due to damage before 1976.

This lawsuit and these settlements do not include anything that happened at the Rossignol School that has been run by the Île-à-la-Crosse School Board since 1975-76.

A Survivor Class Member is someone who attended or lived in residence at the Île-à-la-Crosse School and was alive on December 9, 2003. The estate or heirs of Survivor Class Members who were alive on December 9, 2003, may be able to make a claim for compensation on behalf of the deceased Survivor’s estate.

Learn more about eligibility →

Learn more about how to apply on behalf of someone else →

For a Survivor Class Member who was alive on December 9, 2003, but has since passed away, an Experience Payment (and Abuse Compensation, if applicable) can be claimed by their estate representatives or, if there is no estate representative, their heir(s).

If compensation for a deceased Survivor Class Member is approved and:

• The Survivor had a will or an estate administrator appointed, the compensation will be paid to their estate
• The Survivor died without a will and no estate administrator was appointed, the compensation will go to the Survivor’s eligible living heirs , based on an order of priority set out in the distribution plan

A Survivor’s eligible heirs are their spouse or common law spouse, or their children if they didn’t have a spouse or common law spouse when they died, or their siblings if there are no living children. If there is no spouse, common law spouse, children, or siblings, then grandchildren may apply only for the Experience Payment.

The estate representatives or heirs will still need to prove the Survivor’s claim and provide information about their relationship with the Survivor.

The full requirements for claiming compensation on behalf of a deceased Survivor are included in the Estate Claims Protocol.

Learn more about submitting an application as a representative →

No. Claims under these settlements are limited only to Survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse School who were alive on December 9, 2003, their estate representatives, or their heirs.

This does not mean that Survivors who died before December 9, 2003, did not suffer harm or that their experiences are not worth remembering. Saskatchewan law makes it challenging to bring a lawsuit based on the types of harms addressed in this class action if a person has passed away before the claim was started.

The December 9, 2003, date is two years before the first class action about the Île-à-la-Crosse School was started. That is as far back as the class period could reach. A similar two-year limit has existed in settlements for other class actions on behalf of survivors of institutions that harmed Indigenous Peoples.

Descendants of Survivors who passed away before December 9, 2003, may still benefit from the programs and initiatives supported by the Legacy Fund. The Legacy Fund will be used for projects that promote healing, wellness, reconciliation, education, Indigenous language preservation, and/or commemoration for the benefit of Survivors, their families, and communities. As part of the settlement, Canada will pay $10 million into the Legacy Fund (plus any leftover money from the Experience Payments fund).

No, you do not need to be Métis to receive compensation from these settlements. The Experience payments are for any Survivor who attended the school as was alive as of December 9, 2003, and the Abuse Compensation is for any class member who suffered serious physical harm or sexual abuse while attending the school.

If you are a member of the Family Class, you are not entitled to an Experience Payment or Abuse Compensation for yourself.

However, if you are an eligible heir, you may receive some or all of your Survivor family member’s compensation if they passed away on or after December 9, 2003.

If compensation for a deceased Survivor Class Member is approved and:

• The Survivor had a will or an estate administrator appointed, the compensation will be paid to their estate
  • If you are an estate beneficiary, you might receive compensation in this way
• The Survivor died without a will and no estate administrator was appointed, the compensation will go to the Survivor’s eligible living heirs
  • If you are an eligible living heir, you might receive compensation in this way

A Survivor’s eligible heirs will be their spouse or common law spouse, or their children if they didn’t have a spouse when they died, or their siblings if there are no living children. The heirs will still need to prove the Survivor’s claim and provide information about their relationship with the Survivor.

Members of the Family Class may also benefit from the programs and initiatives supported by the Legacy Fund.

Learn about the Legacy Fund →

Being on the Church’s student list is not necessary to prove that a person is or was a Survivor.

The settlements provide a number of options for showing that a person attended the Île-à-la-Crosse School. Survivors can provide a sworn statement about their attendance, for example.

Supporting documents do not need to be provided. But if they are available, you can include copies of them, and they will help with the assessment of your application. Supporting documents are any documents that may be relevant to whether, and for how long, a person attended as a student or for educational purposes at the School. Supporting documents can include, but are not limited to:

• Photographs
• Correspondence
• School attendance records and/or yearbooks
• Survivor Class Members’ recorded audio or video statements regarding their attendance at the Île-à-la-Crosse School
• Survivor Class Members’ solemn declarations regarding their attendance at the Île-à-la-Crosse School
• Other individuals’ sworn statements regarding the Survivor Class Member’s attendance at the Île-à-la-Crosse School
• Corroborating evidence filed by other Survivor Class Members in their application

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) holds copies of statements given by Survivors. If you gave a statement to the TRC and you want to use your statement for your application, you can ask for a copy of the statement by submitting a Survivor Inquiry Form to the NCTR. You can download a copy of the Survivor Inquiry Form from the NCTR’s website.

People can request copies of statements on behalf of the Survivors they are assisting by submitting a Third Party Inquiry Form as well as a Third Party Consent Form signed by the Survivor. You can download copies of these forms from the NCTR’s website.

For a Survivor who has passed away, an Estate Representative or heir can request a copy of the Survivor’s statement by submitting the forms, as well as proof of death. Proof of death documentation can include a photograph of a gravestone marker, a copy of an obituary, a death certificate, funeral program, or other documentation that provides proof of death.

If you want to use a statement given to the NCTR for an application under the settlements, you should submit your request as soon as possible. For more information about requesting statements or documents held by the NCTR, visit their website or contact the NCTR at NCTRrecords@UManitoba.ca or 204-474-6069.

Class Counsel can also help with requests for statements from the NCTR.

Contact Class Counsel →

Starting June 1, 2026, Île-à-la-Crosse School Survivors, their estate representatives, or their heirs can submit a claim form. You have until June 1, 2027, to apply for an Experience Payment and until June 1, 2028, to apply for Abuse Compensation.

The lawyers and the Administrator recognize the serious nature of the harm that Survivors endured at the Île-à-la-Crosse School. The settlements will be implemented in a way that respects Survivors’ trauma and minimizes, wherever possible, the hardship of submitting an application.

Free supports will be available throughout the process, including legal advice; mental health supports; language supports in Cree, Dene, and Michif; and accessibility accommodations (such as assistance with turning oral evidence into a written claim).

Find out how to get support →

Find out how to submit an application →

The payment process begins only after your application is fully reviewed and a compensation decision has been made. Once this final decision is reached, the Administrator will arrange payment. The process, from receiving a complete application with all information and documents, can take 6 months or more and can vary from person to person. The time for payment of abuse compensation will be longer, as it will be necessary to find out how many claims there are, and the level of harm that is being paid before the amount of the payment can be determined.

Some applications may require extra steps before a payment can be processed, such as confirming banking details or mailing a cheque to the address you provided.

If the Administrator needs additional information from you to complete the payment process, they will contact you by mail, phone, or email, depending on what you shared on your claim form.

Experience Payments are based on how long a Survivor attended the Île-à-la-Crosse School:

• Up to $10,000 for attending the school for up to four years; OR
• Up to $15,000 for attending the school for 5 or more school years

This includes partial school years, no matter how short the part was.

If there isn’t enough money to pay all the Experience Payments in full, each Experience Payment will be reduced proportionately. If there’s money left over, the rest of the $27.335 million will go to the Legacy Fund.

Additional compensation may be available if the Survivor experienced certain kinds of serious abuse while attending the Île-à-la-Crosse School. Survivors may be eligible for up to $50,000–$235,000 in Abuse Compensation, depending on their experience.

Learn more about compensation →

You can apply for an Experience Payment and for Abuse Compensation separately, at different times. The two forms of compensation do not overlap.

Both Experience Payments and Abuse Compensation will be sent in two parts.

For Experience Payments, interim payments will be issued after applications are approved. For applications finally approved by November 30, 2026, interim payments will be issued in December 2026. For applications finally approved by June 1, 2027, payments will be issued in June or July 2027.

If the Survivor is issued an interim payment, the remainder of the Experience Payment will be issued after the deadline for late Experience Payment applications has passed on November 30, 2027. This allows the Administrator to review all Experience Payment applications and calculate payments fairly for all approved claimants.

For Abuse Compensation:

• An interim payment may be made, once the Administrator has a sense of the number of abuse claims that may be made, and the level of harm being made.
• It is possible that an interim payment may be made in early 2028
• The remaining amount will be sent after the Ultimate Claims Deadline of June 1, 2029.

Sending compensation payments in two parts allows approved claimants to receive part of their compensation earlier, instead of waiting until all applications have been received and reviewed.

No. The settlements say that Experience Payments and Abuse Compensation will not count as income for income tax purposes. Compensation from the settlements will not affect a person’s eligibility for social benefits or income assistance, such as Old Age Security or the Canada Pension Plan administered by the Government of Canada or Government of Saskatchewan.

Survivors who lived in residence at the school will be eligible for the Experience Payment.

If there is money left over from the settlement with Saskatchewan after the Abuse Compensation is paid out, there may be extra Experience Payments for Survivors who stayed overnight in the residence.

The availability and amount of any extra Experience Payments for Survivors who stayed in the residence will depend on how much is paid out for Abuse Compensation. These extra Experience Payments will only be for Survivors who were boarding/residential students, to reflect the additional harms they endured at the Île-à-la-Crosse School residence, and will be paid proportionately based on the number of years each student attended the school.

You can apply for compensation, you can do nothing if you do not want to apply for compensations, or you can opt out of the class action.

Learn about your rights →.

The Settlement Approval Hearing took place on March 30-31, 2026.

The deadline to object to the settlements was March 29, 2026.

Justice Wempe of the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench approved the settlements on April 29, 2026. Nobody tried to appeal this decision, so it became final on May 29, 2026. You can read a copy of Justice Wempe’s decision here.

If you opt out, you will not receive compensation from these settlements, but you may be able to start your own lawsuit against Canada and/or Saskatchewan related to your experience at the Île-à-la-Crosse School. You should be aware that there are laws that limit the time when a claim can be made, and you should consult with a lawyer before deciding to opt out, if you want to start your own lawsuit.

If you want to opt out, you need to submit an Opt-Out Form to the Administrator by August 30, 2026.

Learn more about your rights →

Download the Opt-Out Form →

Survivors have until June 1, 2027, to apply for Experience Payments. If you want more time to complete your application for Abuse Compensation, you have until June 1, 2028, to submit the abuse section (Part 5) of the claim form.

Learn more about how to submit a claim →

No. You should only submit one claim form. Applications for Experience Payments must be received by June 1, 2027. Applications for Abuse Compensation can be submitted at the same time. If you want more time for the Abuse Compensation section, you have until June 1, 2028, to submit that section of the form.

It is not necessary to provide supporting documentation for your application to be approved. If you have any records, you can include them in your application, and they will help with the assessment of your application.

Learn more about submitting an application for yourself →

Learn more about submitting an application as a representative →

Experience Payments

If the Administrator wants to deny an application for an Experience Payment, the application will automatically be double-checked by the Assessor. If the Assessor disagrees with the Administrator, she can change the Administrator’s decision and the application for an Experience Payment will be approved.

You don’t need to do anything to initiate this process. The decision of the Assessor is final and cannot be appealed.

Abuse Compensation

If the Administrator’s initial assessment is to deny an application for Abuse Compensation or to award Abuse Compensation at a lower level than the Survivor asked for, the application will automatically be sent to the Assessor. The Assessor will review the application carefully, may seek additional information from you, and the Assessor will then decide whether she agrees with the Administrator.

The Assessor’s decision will be final and cannot be appealed.

Decisions are final

There is no ability to appeal a final decision of the Assessor.

The claims process is designed so that you do not need a lawyer to participate. If you do want legal assistance, it is available for free from Class Counsel. Class Counsel are the plaintiffs’ lawyers and have been working on this class action over the years.

Get support →

The judge approved contingency fee payments to be made to Class Counsel for their legal fees for prosecuting this action, and to help with the claims process. This is how most class action lawsuits work in Canada. This is how most class action lawsuits work in Canada.

The judge approved the fees as requested by Class Counsel, and nobody appealed this decision, so it is final.

Legal fees for Class Counsel that relate to the settlement with Canada will not come out of the Experience Payments or Legacy Fund. There will be no deductions at all from the Experience Payments or Legacy Fund. The lawyers negotiated legal fees separately, after the settlement agreement was already finalized, and Canada paid the approved legal fees directly to Class Counsel.

The settlement with Saskatchewan is different: it’s “all-inclusive”, meaning that the legal fees approved by the judge that were paid by Saskatchewan came out of the $40.2 million settlement fund. They were deducted from the total fund, so that there will be no deduction from any individual award of compensation.

Class Counsel are the lawyers who represent the class members. They are available to answer your questions for free.

Contact Class Counsel →

In a class action, the lawyers may request an honorarium award (payment) for plaintiffs or class members who make a substantial contribution to the litigation. The honorarium is a symbolic recognition of those contributions.

The judge approved the honoraria as requested, and nobody appealed this decision, so it is final.

The approved honoraria were paid by Canada and from Class Counsel’s legal fees. The lawyers negotiated an agreement to fund the honoraria separately with Canada, after the settlement agreement was already finalized. Honoraria not covered by the separate agreement with Canada are being paid from Class Counsel’s legal fees.

The money for honoraria did not come out of the Experience Payments, Legacy Fund, or settlement with Saskatchewan. There will be no deductions at all from the compensation to be received by individual class members.

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