Federal Indian Hospitals Settlement (Canada) — $10,000 to $200,000 CAD

Canadian Settlement · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open. The claims period began January 27, 2026, and the deadline is July 27, 2028; the official sources reviewed do not state a time of day. The Federal Court approved the settlement on June 24, 2025, and approved the claims protocols on December 23, 2025. Claims are assessed individually by the Claims Administrator, Deloitte, and no schedule for issuing payments had been published as of October 3, 2026.

What Changed Recently?

The claims period opened on January 27, 2026, after the Federal Court’s December 23, 2025 order approved the Claims Protocol, Estates Protocol and related implementation documents and appointed Castlemain to run the free Claimant Support Program. Since then, the official settlement website has announced free online webinars on the claims process and, in August 2026, one-on-one Claimant Support Sessions with Claims Helpers. A court-appointed engagement lead, Dr. Mike DeGagne, began meeting with class members and families in spring 2026 to shape the Foundation the settlement funds.

The settlement resolves Hardy v. Canada (Attorney General), Federal Court file T-143-18, in which former patients sought compensation from the Government of Canada for abuse they said they experienced while admitted to Federal Indian Hospitals. The settlement agreement states that it is not an admission of liability by Canada.

Who Qualifies?

Individual compensation is available to Primary Class Members: people who were admitted to one of the 33 Federal Indian Hospitals listed in Schedule D of the settlement agreement while the Government of Canada operated it, and who experienced psychological, verbal, physical or sexual abuse while admitted. Each hospital has its own covered period, beginning no earlier than January 1, 1936 and ending no later than December 31, 1981, or earlier if the hospital closed or its management was transferred away from Canada. Some hospitals were known locally by other names; the official site’s hospitals list and eligibility tool help match them.

An estate representative or heir can file for a Primary Class Member who died on or after January 25, 2016, and a personal representative can file for a claimant who cannot manage their own affairs. Family Class Members — spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings and other close relatives — are not eligible for individual payments.

The settlement does not cover medical malpractice, harms connected to medical treatment or interventions, or any hospital that is not on Schedule D.

How Much Can You Get?

Compensation follows a five-level grid in the settlement agreement, and each eligible Primary Class Member receives a single payment reflecting the most serious harm they experienced:

• Level 1 — $10,000 CAD: harms without lasting physical injury, such as sexualized comments, humiliating or degrading treatment, threats, disproportionate punishment, or confinement unrelated to medical care.
• Level 2 — $50,000 CAD: sexual touching or exposure without a medical purpose, or a physical assault causing injury that was not permanent.
• Levels 3 and 4 — $100,000 and $150,000 CAD: progressively more serious sexual or physical abuse, as defined in the compensation grid.
• Level 5 — $200,000 CAD: the most severe repeated sexual abuse, or physical assault causing permanent loss of mobility or a brain injury.

Claims are assessed against the exact wording of the grid in the settlement agreement; the official compensation page sets out each level in full. Beyond individual payments, the settlement funds a Foundation with a $150 million CAD Healing Fund and a $235.5 million CAD Research and Commemoration Fund, and adds $150 million CAD to existing Indigenous Services Canada programs that support class members’ health and wellness.