Federal government announces details of settlement with Île-à-la-Crosse School survivors

Former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the federal government.

Details of the proposed settlement were announced Thursday in the northwest Saskatchewan community.

Buckley Belanger, secretary of state for rural development, attended the event in his hometown on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty.

Belanger said he was honoured to stand with the school's survivors, who have waited a long time for this moment.

He said he has a vivid memory of watching his older brother skate on a rink in the community, and wondering where everybody else had gone. Belanger later attended the Île-à-la-Crosse school as well.

"To be able to then, 50 or 60 years later, return on behalf of the federal government to announce we will not delay the settlement of this agreement any further ... we wanted to provide that leadership that is required, accountability that's desired, and to try and achieve support to the victims as soon as possible," Belanger said in an interview.

Survivors of the school filed a proposed class action lawsuit to seek recognition and compensation for their cultural loss and abuses at the school, which was not included in the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement because it predated the federal residential school system.

"The residential institution at Île-à-la-Crosse caused much mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and cultural harm to all survivors, both deceased and living," said Melvina Aubichon, one of the representative plaintiffs in the lawsuit, in a news release.

"I hope that the federal government's acknowledgement of the harms caused by the Île-à-la-Crosse residential school helps to address the suffering of all those involved."

The school was one of the earliest and longest-running institutions of its kind in Canada. It existed in various capacities from about 1860, when it was established by a missionary congregation of the Roman Catholic Church, until the 1970s, when the Île-à-la-Crosse School Division assumed operations.

During that time, an estimated 1,500 children were forced to attend. Most were from Métis communities across northwest Saskatchewan, including Île-à-la-Crosse, Patuanak, Pinehouse Lake, La Loche, Buffalo Narrows, Turnor Lake, Beauval, Jans Bay, Cole Bay, Green Lake, Dore Lake, Sled Lake, Michel Village and Dillon.

In March 2025, former students and the federal government announced a $27-million agreement in principal, plus an additional $10-million legacy fund, which led to the proposed settlement agreement announced on Thursday.

It includes individual compensation to be provided directly to former students: up to $10,000 for students who attended for less than five years; and up to $15,000 for students who attended for five or more years.

"Under the agreement, an independent, court-appointed third party administrator will decide the compensation," a news release said.