Survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school are being encouraged to take advantage of in-person claims assistance as compensation applications begin under the historic settlement approved earlier this year.
Claims helpers will be available at the Buffalo Narrows Friendship Centre on July 27 and 28 before travelling to the Île-à-la-Crosse Friendship Centre on July 29 and 30.
The helpers will assist survivors with completing claim forms and answering questions about the settlement process.
Lawyer Margaret Waddell says the assistance is especially important because many survivors face barriers that make completing the forms on their own difficult.
“Many of the claimants, the survivors… English isn’t their first language,” Waddell said. “Some people have some literacy concerns because they did not receive an adequate education from the school to begin with.”
She says the most difficult part of the process can be documenting experiences of abuse.
“Many people who suffered significant physical or sexual abuse have real challenges in writing that down themselves. They’re much more comfortable to share their experience with someone who can then write it down for them.”
The settlement includes two streams of compensation. Claims for experience payments must be submitted by June 1, 2027, while survivors have until June 1, 2028 to file claims relating to serious physical or sexual abuse.
Waddell emphasized survivors do not have to complete both portions at the same time.
“They can complete the experience claim now and get that processed and then come back later when they’re feeling more ready to talk about the other experiences that they suffered.”
Additional claims-helper visits are planned for northern Saskatchewan later this fall and again before both filing deadlines. Survivors can also receive assistance by phone or video appointment.
The settlement, approved by the Court of King’s Bench earlier this year, resolves a decades-long legal battle over the former Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school. The agreement provides compensation for former students and recognizes the harms suffered by Métis and First Nations children who attended the school between 1860 and 1976. Waddell says information, claim forms and contact details for legal counsel and claims helpers are available at ilexsettlement.ca.