Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA; French: Convention de règlement relative aux pensionnats indiens, CRRPI[1]) is an agreement between the government of Canada and approximately 86,000 Indigenous peoples in Canada who at some point were enrolled as children in the Canadian Indian residential school system, a system which was in place between 1879 and 1997.[2][3]: 1  The IRSSA recognized the damage inflicted by the residential schools and established a C$1.9-billion compensation package called CEP (Common Experience Payment) for all former IRS students.[4][5] The agreement, announced in 2006, was the largest class action settlement in Canadian history.[3]: 1 

As of March 2016, a total of C$1,622,422,106 has been paid to 79,309 former students.[6] An additional C$3.18 billion has been paid out to 31,103 former students as of March 31, 2019, through IAPs (Independent Assessment Process) which are for damages suffered beyond the norm for the IRS.[6] The average IAP payment is $111,265 (including legal costs), and the average CEP payment is $20,457.[6]

  1. ^ Marshall, Tabitha (July 11, 2013). "Convention de règlement relative aux pensionnats indiens". The Canadian Encyclopedia (in French). Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  2. ^ "Your questions answered about Canada's residential school system". CBC News. June 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Personal Credits for Personal or Group Education Services" (PDF), Assembly of First Nations, 2014, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2016, retrieved 4 June 2015
  4. ^ "A timeline of residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission", CBC News, 16 May 2008, retrieved 4 June 2015
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference residentialschoolsettlement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Statistics on the Implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, Government of Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, 31 March 2019, retrieved 31 July 2021