Ontario Training Schools Settlement — $5,000 to $100,000 CAD

Canada Government Settlement · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open. The Claims Administrator, Epiq Class Action Services Canada, must receive Claim Forms by September 22, 2027; the settlement agreement sets the deadline at midnight on that date but does not name a time zone. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the settlement on May 21, 2026. Payments will be made after all timely claims and reconsideration requests have been processed, and no payment date had been announced as of October 3, 2026.

What Changed Recently?

The settlement resolves Brown v. His Majesty the King in Right of the Province of Ontario, a class action filed in December 2017 on behalf of people who lived at provincial training schools, where young people were sent under Ontario’s training schools legislation. The lawsuit alleges that Ontario is liable for harms suffered by residents of the schools in connection with its management and operation of them; the settlement’s compensation categories cover general harm, physical and sexual assault, and solitary confinement. Ontario denies the allegations and any liability, and the court did not decide who was right. The case was certified as a class action in December 2018.

The parties signed the settlement agreement on January 21, 2026. Justice Glustein heard the approval motion on May 1, 2026 and approved the settlement on May 21, 2026 (2026 ONSC 2880), finding it fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the class. On June 26, 2026, Ontario and the representative plaintiff jointly announced the approval, and Ontario published the public acknowledgment of harm that forms part of the settlement. The claim form and the notice of settlement approval are dated June 2026, and claims can now be filed online, by email or by mail.

Who Qualifies?

The class is every person who was alive on December 8, 2015 and who lived at one of these institutions during the period listed for it:

• Pine Ridge School, Bowmanville (formerly the Ontario Training School for Boys): January 1, 1953 to its closure in 1979
• Cold Springs Forestry Camp: January 1, 1963 to its closure in 1976
• Hillcrest School, Guelph: January 1, 1953 to its closure in 1978
• Brookside School, Cobourg (formerly the Ontario Training School for Boys at Galt, Northumberland and Cobourg): January 1, 1953 to April 2, 1984
• Trelawney House, Port Bolster: August 1959 to its closure in 1973
• Kawartha Lakes School, Lindsay: 1962 to its closure in 1979
• Glendale School, Simcoe: 1962 to July 30, 1974
• White Oaks Village, Hagersville (junior school): 1966 to 1978
• Sprucedale School, Hagersville (senior school): 1966 to April 2, 1984
• Cecil Facer School, Sudbury: 1971 to April 2, 1984
• Project DARE – Portage Lake: June 1971 to 1976
• Project DARE – Wendigo Lake, South River: 1972 to April 2, 1984
• Syl Apps Youth Centre, including its earlier names as the Galt reception and diagnostic centre and the Oakville Reception and Assessment Centre: 1958 to April 2, 1984

Seven other institutions are expressly excluded, including Grandview Training School and the St. Joseph’s and St. John’s training schools. A person is also not eligible if they previously sued Ontario individually over their time at a training school, signed a release of those claims, opted out earlier in the case, or opts out by March 22, 2027.

How Much Can You Get?

Ontario will pay up to $60 million CAD. That amount also covers class counsel’s court-approved fees, the Class Proceedings Fund levy, administration costs and an honorarium for the representative plaintiff. Each claimant chooses one of two tracks:

• Track 1, general harm: $5,000 for an eligible claimant who affirms that they experienced harm while living at a listed school.