Claims process opens for ‘Indian hospitals’ settlement

OTTAWA — The claims process for a landmark “Indian hospitals” settlement opened Tuesday, nearly one year after the federal government reached an agreement with survivors on compensation.

The federal government ran 33 such hospitals for Indigenous people between 1936 and 1981.

Former patients, some of whom spent years in the segregated facilities, filed a lawsuit against the government in 2018 alleging the hospitals were rife with abuse and unfair treatment.

“It has taken us years of painful reflection, traumatic memories and deep courage to reach this moment,” said Ann Hardy last year when the settlement was announced.

Hardy was sent to an Indian hospital when she was 10 years old for tuberculosis treatment.

“I was supposed to be there to heal, but instead I experienced fear, isolation and trauma that has stayed with me for decades … I was repeatedly sexually abused by staff members. I witnessed other patients being sexually abused.”

Under the settlement, the federal government agreed to pay compensation to individual survivors in the range of $10,000 to $200,000.

Class members have until July 2028 to submit a claim.

Persons may be eligible for compensation if they were admitted to an Indian hospital and experienced any form of abuse there, including psychological, verbal, physical or sexual abuse.

The estates of class members who died after January 2016 are also eligible.

More information is available on the Indian hospitals claims website at IHSettlement.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2026.