Ottawa, plaintiffs agree to settle lawsuit over ‘Indian hospitals’

OTTAWA — A crowd of survivors of so-called “Indian hospitals” gathered on Parliament Hill Thursday to hear the federal government say what they’ve been waiting years to hear: We believe you.

Ottawa announced Thursday it has reached a settlement with plaintiffs who filed a class action lawsuit over their experiences at the hospitals.

The federal government ran 33 such hospitals 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.

“I wish this chapter of our history had never happened, but it did. And so we have a responsibility not just to acknowledge it, but to act,” Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said.

“For the survivors who have come forward to share your experience, I want to recognize your courage. It’s not easy to speak about what happened. It’s painful. But your voices have made this possible. They’ve forced your country to listen, to understand and to begin making amends.”

Instead of settling the case through the courts, the federal government and the plaintiffs’ lawyers have been negotiating.

Anandasangaree announced Thursday the federal government has agreed to pay compensation to individual survivors in the range of $10,000 to $200,000.

Ottawa is also earmarking $150 million for a healing fund and $235.5 million for research and education on Indian hospitals.

The Federal Court will decide whether to accept the settlement during a hearing on June 10 and 11.

Representative plaintiff Ann Cecile Hardy said the road to the settlement has been a long one.

“It has taken us years of painful reflection, traumatic memories and deep courage to reach this moment,” said Hardy, who 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,” Hardy told those gathered for Thursday’s announcement.

“I left the hospital physically, emotionally, psychologically battered. The abuse I suffered change the entire course of my life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press