Indian day school survivors urged to file compensation claims as deadline nears

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Only a few weeks remain for Indian day school survivors to file a compensation claim with the federal government, and B.C. advocates are urging those who haven’t yet done so to share their stories and file a claim. 

More than 600 day schools were operated in Canada for more than 100 years. The so-called schools were similar to residential schools, where students faced abuse and the goal was to erase Indigenous language and culture.

However, because they were run separately from residential schools, day schools weren’t included in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in 2006.

In 2019,