Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A blank settlement check regarding the Sixties Scoop survivors settlement checks being delayed

UPDATE: As of January 25, 2021, nearly 9,700 Sixties Scoop Survivors are reportedly still waiting to find out if they’ll receive compensation in the $875 million class action settlement. 

The Canadian government agreed to settle with Sixties Scoop survivors back in 2017 and the claims period ended 16 months ago, but thousands of applicants are still stuck in limbo. 

Initially, Collectiva, the claims administrator, had until May 31 to process the applications and report the final number of eligible claims. However, that deadline was suspended in April due to the coronavirus pandemic and a new one has yet to be set.  

Collectiva has also stopped denying claims saying in part, “given the current public health circumstances, we are continuing the pause on denying applications for the time being. What that means is that no claim will be denied during this time. However, we are actively assessing claims and, where possible, approving them and issuing interim payments” according to the settlement website update. 

Sixties Scoop survivors say they’re fed up and they want Collectiva’s deadline reinstated, according to a letter reportedly sent to class counsel.  

“The deadlines should all be reinstated and a final tally of numbers be reported to Canada by May 31, 2021, or sooner, so that final payments can begin to flow to survivors, and so people can move on and heal.”

The letter makes other recommendations including, sending a reminder letter to claimants who need to submit more information and including interest in claimants final payments after May 31. The requests were denied, according to The Tyee

Top Class Actions will continue to follow this lawsuit settlement and report updates as we learn more. Click on the “Follow Article” at the top of this page to get the latest updates about the Sixties Scoop settlement by using your free Top Class Actions account. For the latest updates, keep checking ca.TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter


Interim Payments to Sixties Scoop Survivors Approved, Amid COVID-19 Delays

Citing obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Court has reportedly approved a request to delay payments to Sixties Scoop survivors. Interim payments of $21,000 will reportedly be sent to people whose applications under the Sixties Scoop settlement have already been approved.

Sixties Scoop survivors include those who were involuntarily taken from their Indigenous families and placed in foster and adoptive homes. According to reporting by the CBC, the practice spanned a number of decades, from the late 1950s through early 1990s. Practices were instigated by a series of provincial policies enacted by welfare agencies that saw Indigenous children taken from their homes and placed in a white home. The now-adult children subject to these policies say they lost their culture and family and many were victims of abuse.

In 2017, the government of Canada agreed to pay Sixties Scoop survivors, along with First Nations, $750 million. The amount of each survivor’s payment would depend on the number of eligible claims submitted and the claims process opened last year.

According to a recent report by the CBC, the Sixties Scoop settlement process has been delayed by challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The claims administrator, Collectiva, has reportedly received nearly 35,000 claims, but has only processed 40 percent of that total.

In late March, at the beginning of the COVID crisis, a federal judge reportedly ordered payments of $25,000 be made to qualifying Sixties Scoop Class Members “, once more than 4,767 claimants’ applications have been fully and finally rejected without further opportunity for review or reconsideration.” However, the process is now further delayed as coronavirus related restrictions drag on.

One of the lawyers representing Class Members told CBC News reporters that the process has been delayed by the closure of provincial archives that claims assessors need to determine whether a claim is eligible.

“Our priority right now is to get eligible class members the payments they are owed as quickly as possible,” the lawyer told reporters. “I know that these delays have taken a real emotional toll on many people and I am personally committed to getting survivors both the information and the justice they deserve.”

In a recent order, Justice Michael L. Phelan allowed Sixties Scoop survivors who have made claims that were determined to be eligible. Claims will be paid out at $21,000 and are considered interim.

Sixties Scoop Survivors Frustrated With Settlement Process

Some Sixties Scoop survivors are frustrated with the process, according to the CBC.

person holding sign saying i want my money regarding the Sixties Scoop survivors' settlement checks being delayed

“We didn’t realize it would be almost four years later that we would get paid, even now we’re not even sure when,” co-founder of the Sixties Scoop Network, formerly known as the National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network, Colleen Hele-Cardinal told reporters. “We’re hearing the day school survivors are getting their money and their lawsuit started after ours. It’s very frustrating.”

Hele-Cardinal followed up with concerns about how the Sixties Scoop settlement is being handled.

“It’s not good enough. Whether we like it or not, this is what we got, even if we didn’t ask for it. It feels like a really bad deal,” Hele-Cardinal told reporters. “We want justice. We want more than just this. We want our stories shared, we want people all over the world to know what Canada did to us, and continues to do to our families.”

Another Sixties Scoop survivor told reporters that she doesn’t expect she will ever see payment.

“If I ever see a cheque, I would be surprised. I really don’t expect them to pay us,” a Sixties Scoop survivor and director of a women’s shelter for Native women in Montreal told reporters. “My whole life direction and struggles is because of the Sixties Scoop. I’ve never been impressed with the government. If they said they’re going to give it to us, then they should follow up.”

For its part, representatives for Canada’s Office of Crown-Indigenous Relations affirmed that it wants Sixties Scoop settlement payments to go out in a timely manner.

“Canada fully supports class counsel’s motion to issue partial payments to class members with a valid claim immediately,” said the Office in a statement regarding the recent judicial order on payments. “Canada has already transferred $500 million to the [claims] administrator for individuals’ compensation to allow payments to be made to the eligible class without further delay once the process resumes. The Government of Canada fully supports efforts to expedite funding wherever possible.”

Are you a Sixties Scoop survivor? What do you think about the delay in the settlement cheques? Tell us your story in the comment section below!

The Sixties Scoop Class Action Lawsuit is Riddle, et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen, Case No. T-2212-16 in the Federal Court of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


75 thoughts onSixties Scoop Survivors’ Settlement Cheques Delayed

  1. Anita says:

    There is no need for a therapy building that only a few will use. None of the valid claimants agreed to that. It’s been 5 years. Cut off should have remained August 2017. The ones that couldn’t get their shit together miss out, it’s that simple, but the rest of us wait forever. Every valid claimant should be getting at least 1 million.

  2. Michael Mark Tooma says:

    I never knew about 60 scoops until a friend told me about this guy that received 25 000 from being adopted and was in group homes
    Me too, I was adopted when I was 2 years old and today my adopted Parents passed away and I’m homeless now, I’ve been kicked out of houses like my relatives, It’s hard, I would like to have this money to rent apartment and buy food and keep on with my life

  3. Candice Anderson says:

    You guys weren’t the only people to be beaten and molested! What the f*ck is wrong with all of you! I was to!! Shouldnt I get a payout for the torture I endured as a child?? What makes your people so special that you all can sit here and DEMAND over $50000.00?!?! What a joke!

    1. yolanda says:

      what makes this different is we were illegally taken from family,then put into homes that wete only white,to be abused ,while the so called reason for being taken was to protect us. im sorry what happened to you, money will never take any of our innocence back, and the amount we did win in court the only people making money from it is the lawyers and this so called foundation. none of this money will do a damn thing to change mine or my families situation, but someone needed to be held accountable, as should the person that harmed you.

  4. Verna Stewart says:

    How much longer do we need to suffer pay us our money

  5. Renee says:

    We should be paid all not waiting years for pay! Another class action before sixty scoop is already paid! I had a lawyer and then it went to them!

  6. Jacqueline K says:

    Why has this taken this long? This has been such a sorrowful journey of bringing up the past, and waiting endlessly for this to end. We can’t put this behind us as we still are waiting to see what they feel our loss of culture, loss of family and loss of identity is worth! How sad that we have brought all our past emotions up and now sit here blindly waiting. The Residential and Day lawsuits moved along alot quicker and they were compensated more favorably. Alot of us were put through so much from a very young age and still live with the trauma of our past. As far as I am concerned this only has opened all the old wounds, as they still treat us as without the respect we deserve. By holding out what we should entitled to just out of reach. How sad it is that we are still be treated so unfairly. Why come up with such an outlandish lawsuit. We should be compensated the full amount, as we are teminded of all the pain and suffering ONCE AGAIN.

  7. Ray Larsen says:

    19,999 final number ,Each get $50,000. Equals approx, $999,000 20,001 final number each get $25,000 each ,That equals approx $500,000. Where does the difference go. everyone should get an equal amount no matter how many claims there are

  8. Beverley Jones (adopted name) says:

    My apprehension was based on discrimination when DIA policy stated that any Status Indian woman who married non status Indian men they would lose their ” Indian Status” & in the 50’s ordered my birth mother & other women off the reserve. My mother refused. Her Status was lost so ineligible for medical, education & food rations. Therefore at 2 months of age 8 of us were apprehended & I was placed in a Caucasian family. When my birth mother divorced her 1st husband a Metis man, she lost her “status”. By time I reached 5 yrs of age my birth mother’s status changed back to being a “status Indian”. I was returned home & suffered culture shock as I had been living Much different in a middle classed home. There was breach of confidentiality by the old Children’s Aid Society Social worker & my foster parents found me & came to my birth family & asked if they could have me on “special holidays”.Thus began “visits”. I experience sexual abuse both in my foster & birth families. I experienced the gang banging at 5 years of age & then in later years from my older foster adopted Caucasian brother. Much more trauma & many stories
    The system is fallible to our People & I found that after I came off the streets after 6 years of homelessness at age 24 yrs. Ay that time I didn’t even know what welfare was. When I went to apply for welfare the welfare worker said” I noticed you are a status Indian…why don’t you go back to your reservation? I was appalled. I hated Indians & yes racist because of the trauma I experienced. Much much more but if someone is really “reading” these comments please understand how this was very wrong & the compensation is a joke. Deemed Genocide. I’ve had to heal via outside the system. I earned a BSW & worked front line with our people. I am a Survivor working towards thriving but again the (gov’t) systems have been difficult with my “identity” and Provincial systems/mandates also work towards discriminating against me. I have healed via Spiritual ceremonies. I came home & live on the land where I was apprehended in 1956. I will be 66 years of after age this year & have survived & lived in both worlds… but again.. I am ignored. So after I had approached a media, spoke with a reporter who listened to my story… got up & said,”There is no story in this”. So. I did a documentary that was screened at DOXA Vancouver Film Festival 2008. After my Producer tried various media… but no interest, so I got permission from Producer to screen it & have in, in every Province east of Quebec and worked as I was a single parent. I now own copy rights & continue to work with my documentary, “Policy Baby: The Journey of Ritabev…(Google the title as I fill the page. There is so much more but “Gov’t is just greedy & racist. They need to continue to change policies & remain unaccountable for the Genocide on our People. NOW WE ARE ALL BECOMING “CITIZENS” AS THEY CHANGE OUR FN COMMUNITIES & TURN US INTO MUNICIPALITIES. I’m done. I am an Anishinaabe Ikwe & will continue harvesting medicinal plants on my home territory & start a new 8 year cycle of Waterwalks to teach our women & girls their role in life. That is my Sovereignty & right to a good life. Now. Mandates & Policies via medical tyranny is rampant around the world with Experimentally Gene Therapy deemed ” vaccines”. I will not take the jab. I chose Freedom of Choice. I have earned that freedom & choice as gov’t tried via policies to kill the Indian in the child” . For me their policies did not work but I have lived thru 2 worlds and am a Survivor. Miigwetch/Thank you

  9. Bonita says:

    Granted, the pandemic slowed everything down for a period, however, it can not be used as an excuse anymore!!! Collectiva needs to give answers!!! Someone needs to make them accountable for the delay!! Residential and Day School have gotten their payments, and much more than us may I add!!! Is Top Class Actuons willing to step in and help, and if so, at what cost? Or what other action can be taken?

  10. Toni Campbell says:

    This money is a slap in the face for genocide. Meanwhile the foster kids get 40 BILLION and they will be paid out before us.
    What about the person that the Canadian government gave 10 million to? Remember that guy?
    We should each get 10 million. Canada is such a joke. You destroy our lives for generations and then think that scraps will heal us.

    1. Carolyn Barnhardt says:

      yeah, how I understand it a woman was awarded a hugh settlement and decided to divide it for the 60s scoop. Then the lawyers overcharge and take money like crazy with a wellness healing center in Manatoba I believe.

1 3 4 5

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.