Backgrounder - Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history.

On May 10, 2006, the Government announced the approval by all parties of the IRSSA. The Government's representative, the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, concluded the IRSSA with legal representatives of former students of Indian Residential Schools, legal representatives of the Churches involved in running those schools, the Assembly of First Nations, and other Aboriginal organizations.

The IRSSA was approved by the Courts and came into effect on September 19, 2007. The IRSSA includes the following individual and collective measures to address the legacy of the Indian Residential School system:

Common Experience Payment

• Upon application, a Common Experience Payment will be paid to every eligible former student who resided at a recognized Indian Residential School living on May 30, 2005, the day the negotiations were initiated.
  
  
• The IRSSA stipulates that $1.9 billion be set aside for the direct benefit of former Indian Residential School students. Subject to verification, each eligible former student who applies would receive $10,000 for the first school year or portion thereof and $3,000 for each subsequent year.

Truth and Reconciliation

• A Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be established with a budget of $60 million over five years. It will be mandated to promote public education and awareness about the Indian Residential School system and its legacy, as well as provide former students, their families and communities an opportunity to share their Indian Residential School experiences in a safe and culturally-appropriate environment.
  
  
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will undertake a series of national and community events and will establish a research centre for ongoing access to the records collected throughout the work of the Commission.

Independent Assessment Process

• The Independent Assessment Process (IAP) is the process to assist former students settle their claims for abuse they suffered at Indian Residential Schools.
  
  
• The IAP compensates former students for sexual abuse, serious physical abuse and certain other wrongful acts which caused serious psychological consequences for the individual. This compensation is available in addition to the Common Experience Payment.

Commemoration

• The IRSSA provides $20 million in funding to commemorate the legacy of Indian Residential Schools. Commemoration is about honouring, educating, remembering, memorializing and paying tribute to former students of Indian Residential Schools, their families and the larger Aboriginal community. It also acknowledges their experiences and the broad, systemic impacts of the Indian Residential Schools system.
  
  
• The Government will provide funding to facilitate regional and national Commemoration initiatives that address the residential school experience and provide the opportunity to share the initiative with family and community.

Healing

• The IRSSA provides for an additional endowment of $125 million to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, to continue to support healing programs and initiatives for a further five years following the Implementation Date.
  
  
• The Church entities involved in the administration of Indian Residential Schools will contribute up to a total of $100 million in cash and services toward healing initiatives.