Class Actions

Innu Day Schools

This certified class action is brought on behalf of the Innu Nation and three of its members against the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, concerning schools that operated in Labrador Innu communities prior to the Innu assuming control over their own education system. Between 1949 and 2009, provincial school boards and Catholic-affiliated institutions, with support from the federal government, operated schools in Sheshatshiu, Old Davis Inlet, Davis Inlet, and Natuashish.

Phillips Barristers is working as co-counsel with Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP and Budden Hiscock Lawyers to prosecute this matter.

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The claim alleges that students endured a wide range of harms while attending the schools, including physical, sexual, emotional, and cultural abuse. 

This class action is consistent with similar claims brought across Canada. In particular, it parallels a day schools class action that was settled in 2019, as well as a band reparations class action resolved in 2023. Those cases addressed comparable allegations of systemic mistreatment and sought compensation and recognition for the harms suffered by Indigenous students and communities.

However, the Innu Nation were excluded from those earlier settlements because they were not recognized under the Indian Act until the early 2000s. The present claim seeks to address that gap by advancing the rights and interests of Innu individuals who attended Day Schools and who were not previously eligible for compensation.

Class definition 

There are two classes in this action:

  1. The Survivor Class, defined as:
    • All persons who attended one or more Innu Day Schools located in Labrador during the Class Period who allege that they suffered harm arising from the establishment, administration, supervision, operation, funding, or effects of the Innu Day Schools.
    • For greater certainty, membership in the Survivor Class is determined by attendance at an identified Innu Day School during the Class Period and does not depend on proof of abuse, negligence, cultural loss, fiduciary breach, constitutional infringement, causation, or damages.
  2. The Innu Governments Class, which includes the following Indigenous collectives:
    • Innu Nation Inc.;
    • Mushuau Innu First Nation; and
    • Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation.

If you would like to receive updates for this class action, please send an email to innudayschools@oktlaw.com.

  • The lawsuit was filed in October 2024.
  • A certification hearing was held from March 17 to 20, 2026, in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
  • On August 26, 2026, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador certified this claim to proceed as a class action.
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