SASKATCHEWAN — Indigenous people who were relocated to a boarding home so that they could attend school can now submit a claim under the Indian Boarding Homes Class Action to receive financial compensation.
The claims process opened in August 2024 after a federal court approved a $1.9-billion settlement in the class action lawsuit.
Any Indigenous person who was a part of the boarding home program between 1951 and 1992 is eligible to submit a claim.
People who were placed in a boarding home after 1992 are also eligible if the federal government was responsible for the placement.
One of the lawyers representing the class, Douglas Lennox, said about three per cent of the claims filed to date have come from the Northwest Territories.
About 33,000 people are said to be included in the class.
There are two types of claims that applicants can file. A category one application, which any applicant has to complete, is fairly simple, Lennox said.
The category two application – intended for people seeking compensation for abuse, neglect or discrimination endured in the boarding homes program – is more involved, he said, and requires completion of a category one application at the same time.
The process requires applicants to complete an online form (the form expires after 30 minutes of inactivity, so it's best to have all the required information ready before beginning) and fill in basic information such as the applicant's name and address, while providing copies of a piece of ID.
Acceptable forms of ID can include a passport, driver's licence, general identification card, status card or Inuit beneficiary card.
Anyone without ID – or applying on behalf of someone who has passed away – can have a guarantor (someone who can vouch for the applicant) complete a statutory declaration form.
Applicants must also include the names of the schools they attended while living in a boarding home, as well as the location of the home and time period the applicant lived there.
Once the form is submitted, it is reviewed by a claims administrator who looks for proof that the federal government paid to send the applicant to a boarding home.
"Typically, the government would have spent money that they gave to non-Indigenous families who were hired to house the children in the program," said Lennox. That means there are typically records available to confirm someone was in the program, he said.
Applicants can expect to hear back from the claims administrator in six to eight months. If there is sufficient proof that an applicant was part of the program, they will receive $10,000 in compensation.
"What I would say to people is they should try to get their category one claim form in right away," said Lennox.
"If you get that answer back and it says you were in the program, then you can take the time to provide a more detailed answer about the abuse that you suffered," said Lennox about submitting a category two claim.
Applicants who have a category two claim approved can receive up to $200,000.
Both types of claims must be submitted by February 22, 2027.
"We want people to understand the history of our country," said Lennox.
"This is one of these things where kids were taken from their families and it was sad, and we're trying – as a country – to make amends for that."
