Notices to Counsel | Notice to Counsel: Possible Interruption of mail service

In the event of a full disruption in postal services, the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat (IRSAS or the Secretariat) has put in place contingency measures to ensure that hearings under the Independent Assessment Process can continue and that claimants’ expense claims are dealt with in a timely manner.

Evidentiary packages that are required for hearings by claimant counsel, defendants and adjudicators are available through the Secretariat’s Electronic Document Interchange (EDI). Counsel who have not set up an EDI account should do so by contacting the Chief Adjudicator’s Office via e-mail at IAPS_Chiefadjudicatorsoffice@irsad-sapi.gc.ca.

If one of your clients requires a travel advance in order to attend a hearing, please contact Hearings Management via e-mail at IAPHearingMgmtSec@irsad-sapi.gc.ca in order to arrange delivery of a travel advance cheque. Cheques will be sent out via courier or will be available for pick-up, depending on the location.

If you are seeking reimbursement for hearing expenses on behalf of a claimant, please do NOT mail the claim to the Secretariat at this time. Please send claims via courier (Purolator, UPS, FedEx), or wait until after the mail interruption is over before submitting them.

In the event of a full labour disruption, the Secretariat will not mail out cheques for expense claims. If the labour disruption is lengthy, alternate arrangements will be made to ensure that expense claims are reimbursed.

The Secretariat sends large volumes of mail to claimant counsel; these are often related to important deadlines or milestones in the hearing process. These notices will be sent out by EDI, courier or email.

IAP compensation cheques are issued by Canada, not the Secretariat. For further information, please call 1-877-307-9089.

Dan Shapiro,
Chief Adjudicator