Federal Court approves ‘Indian hospitals’ class-action settlement

Ann Hardy pictured at her home in Edmonton, Alta., on Tuesday January 30, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

OTTAWA — The Federal Court has approved a class-action settlement for people who suffered abuse at federally run “Indian hospitals” following out-of-court negotiations with Ottawa and Indigenous survivors.

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, and settled out of court earlier this year.

The class covers people who were admitted to an Indian Hospital between January 1936 and December 1981 and who suffered abuse during their time there.

Claimants will be assessed under five “levels,” with compensation ranging from $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.

Representative plaintiff Ann Cecile Hardy said earlier this year the experience revived painful memories of the time she spent in one of the hospitals 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 said in March.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press