National

Payments start for first claimants in First Nations child welfare case

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Aug, 2025 10:12 AM

Some claimants are now receiving compensation payments through a $23-billion settlement for more than 300,000 First Nations children and their families.

The settlement is meant to compensate children and their families for Canada's chronic underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says the start of compensation payments marks an important milestone.

Woodhouse Nepinak says more than 40,000 claims have now been received but there are still many more eligible claimants who haven’t yet submitted applications.

The settlement agreement, which recognizes nine distinct groups of claimants, was opened to the first two groups in March.

Individuals who were removed from their families on reserves or in Yukon between April 1, 1991 and March 31, 2022, as well as parents or grandparents of those individuals, are now eligible to apply for and receive payments.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Unmarked graves: Supreme Court won't hear Mohawk Mothers appeal over McGill expansion

The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal from Indigenous elders who were seeking greater oversight over a university construction site in Montreal where they suspect unmarked graves of children are located. An application for leave to appeal was dismissed today by the country's highest court, which gave no reason for its decision, as is custom.

Unmarked graves: Supreme Court won't hear Mohawk Mothers appeal over McGill expansion

Immigration leads to record population growth in several Quebec regions

A new report from Quebec’s statistics institute says many of the province's regions grew at a record or near-record pace between 2023 and 2024, due in large part to immigration, while deaths outnumbered births for the first time. Montreal led the way, adding more than 91,000 people between July 2023 and July 2024 for a 4.2-per-cent growth rate — one of the highest ever recorded in any region.

Immigration leads to record population growth in several Quebec regions

'Tears of joy' at Gaza ceasefire, but protesting groups in Canada say they won't stop

Vancouver resident Nasser Najjar said he cried tears of joy after hearing that a ceasefire had been reached in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Wednesday. Najjar, who lived in Gaza from 1999 to 2015, still has family in the region where the 15-month-long conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.

'Tears of joy' at Gaza ceasefire, but protesting groups in Canada say they won't stop

Vancouver backyard chickens practise social distancing from wild birds amid H5N1 risk

Lumpy Eye the chicken has made plenty of friends in her East Vancouver neighbourhood over the years, said owner Duncan Martin, with passersby regularly greeting her in the yard outside their home. But now the seven-year-old Bovan Brown hen is being kept in isolation in her coop, to prevent her coming into contact with wild birds — and H5N1 avian influenza.

Vancouver backyard chickens practise social distancing from wild birds amid H5N1 risk

Trudeau names ex-premiers, business and union reps to Canada-U.S. relations council

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formed a new Canada-U.S. relations council to support the federal government as it deals with the incoming Trump administration's vow to impose tariffs. The 18 members of the council include Steve Verheul, who was Canada's chief trade negotiator during the renegotiation of NAFTA.

Trudeau names ex-premiers, business and union reps to Canada-U.S. relations council

Liberal endorsements start to trickle in as Carney launches leadership bid

Liberal MPs are starting to reveal which candidates they're backing in the race to replace Justin Trudeau, just as the presumed front-runners get ready to declare they're running. Health Minister Mark Holland, Liberal MPs Ben Carr, Ken McDonald and Stéphane Lauzon, and former cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault say they're supporting former finance minister Chrystia Freeland.