Information

As the Independent Assessment Process comes to a close on March 31, 2021, the Oversight Committee has issued a Final Report on the historic process which provided compensation to tens of thousands of survivors of abuse in Indian Residential Schools.

The Independent Assessment Process was established under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) to provide reparations for claims of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, or other wrongful acts suffered by former students while attending a residential school. A claimant-centered private adjudicative process, the IAP began in 2007 and during the years of its operation resolved 38,276 claims and awarded more than $3.23 billion in compensation to residential school survivors.

The IAP was designed to complement the important public work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which released its own final report in 2015.

“As one key part of the Residential Schools Agreement, the IAP was designed to compensate survivors for the wrongs they suffered and to help provide the foundation for a more just future,” said Mayo Moran, the Independent Chair of the IAP Oversight Committee which provided advice and guidance on the implementation of the IAP.

The Final Report on the IAP includes a brief history of residential schools, outlines the negotiations that led to the IRSSA, and discusses the objectives of the IAP and the role they played in the larger Settlement Agreement. The 116-page report highlights both the work done to achieve the objectives set out by the parties as well as the challenges faced by the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat (IRSAS) in implementing the IAP.

The Final Report provides insights into the perspectives of claimants, stakeholders and participants in the IAP, gathered through a series of meetings and focus groups. It also highlights almost 300 process improvements that were introduced as the Secretariat worked its way through the caseload, which was more than triple the expected number of claims. The Report also discusses lessons learned and identifies best practices that could have broader implications for the civil justice system.

Aside from the Final Report in English and in French, a Summary Report is also available in English, French, James Bay Cree, Plains Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.

• Click here for the Final Report
• Click here for the Summary Report
• Summary Report in James Bay Cree
• Summary Report in Plains Cree
• Summary Report in Ojibway
• Summary Report in Inuktitut

For a printed copy of the Final Report, please contact shelley.mcammond@canada.ca.