Loss of Opportunity Re-openers

The Settlement Agreement allows claimants who settled their claims through Dispute Resolution at the Loss of Opportunity 3 level and who signed a release after May 30, 2005 to have their Dispute Resolution hearings re-opened so that the assignment of points under the Loss of Opportunity 3 category may be reconsidered pursuant to the standards of the IAP.

The Settlement Agreement requires that claimants apply to enter the re-opener process.

The Settlement Agreement also requires expert assessments to support findings of Loss of Opportunity 4 and 5.

The Adjudication Secretariat (IRSAS) has taken steps to be proactive on its responsibilities set out in the Settlement Agreement towards Loss of Opportunity re-openers.

The IRSAS has begun to identify eligible claimants in order to contact them or their counsel by letter informing them of the re-opener process and inviting them to consent to participate.

The IRSAS will admit those claimants who consent and forward their request to the IRSAS. Claimants do not have to wait to receive the letter of invitation to re-open their claim but can choose to notify the Adjudication Secretariat in writing to:

IAP Secretariat
PO Box 1575
Station B
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 0A9

Upon receipt of the request for a Loss of Opportunity re-opener, the IRSAS will open an IAP re-opener file and notify Canada of the request.

Canada may contact claimant’s counsel to discuss the potential for agreement on a reopener admitted in the IRSAS. Should a joint agreement between claimant’s counsel and Canada be reached, Canada will provide the IRSAS with the record of the agreement for the Chief Adjudicator’s confirmation and approval. This would not be an option for self-represented claimants.

If there is no agreement between the parties or the claimant is self-represented, the Chief Adjudicator’s Office will assign the file to the Adjudicator who originally heard the case, if available, with the instruction to the Adjudicator to proceed with the file in one of the two following ways: 1) the Adjudicator will conduct a paper review if possible and no further information is required and amend the original decision accordingly; or 2) if sufficient information is not available for a paper review, the Adjudicator will make a request for an expert assessment and proceeds to either a hearing or if possible to complete the paper review with the assistance of the new evidence.

The re-opener process has only recently started and decisions will begin to go out to claimants in late July, 2008. The process for decisions will take approximately less than two months.

The process for payments will be the same as with DR claims where best efforts will be made to process payments within 30 days, after Canada has received signed compensation documents, but could take two months before the payment is processed.

The IRSAS acknowledges that each Loss of Opportunity re-opener represents a unique set of circumstances requiring the greatest respect for each claimant as well as due diligence to ensure claimants receive the amount for which they are entitled.

It must also be noted that some re-opener requests are not eligible under the court negotiated Settlement Agreement, those who signed a release before May 30, 2005 or who have not signed a release under DR.

Once a re-opener request is processed, claimants, or claimant’s counsel, will receive a detailed letter explaining their assessment and how to proceed if they are not satisfied with the Adjudication Secretariat’s decision. If the claimant disagrees with the decision, a review process is available and will be administered by the Chief Adjudicator.

Claimants also have access to emotional health and wellness support services through the Resolution Health Support Program. In addition, they may call our toll-free Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 (24 hours/7days) to get emotional or crisis referral right away or to find out how to get other health supports from the Government of Canada.

The IRSAS remains committed to processing Independent Assessment Process claims as quickly and efficiently as possible and to ensure each claimant receives all the compensation for which they are eligible.

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement is the consensus reached between legal counsel for former students, legal counsel for the Churches, the Assembly of first Nations, other Aboriginal organizations and the Government of Canada to achieve a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian Residential Schools.

Re-opener Application Form

Student on Student (SOS) Re-opener Application Form

Former Students

Loss of Opportunity (LOO) Re-opener Request Form- Former students

Legal Counsel

Loss of Opportunity (LOO) Re-opener Request Form- Legal Counsel