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Class Action Settlement Reached to Compensate Former Residents of Developmental Services Facilities in Ontario
BACKGROUND:
Between 1876 and 2009, approximately 50,000 people with developmental disabilities were housed in 16 facilities across Ontario. On March 31, 2009, the last 3 institutions closed their doors. When the Developmental Services Act was passed in 1974, it began a transition of providing more effective support and services that focus on greater independence, social inclusion and personal choice. It took the province 35 years to transition these people away from isolated facilities, to foster greater independence and to include them in the community.
Allegations have surfaced that residents in these institutions experienced physical, psychological, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of fellow residents and employees of the facilities. On June 16, 2014 Koskie Minsky LLP initiated lawsuits against the province on behalf of the survivors of the residential institutions. The lawsuit, Clegg v Province of Ontario, states that the province failed to properly care for and protect the people who lived in these institutions.
While the province denies all allegations, the parties reached a settlement and on April 27, 2016, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved a $36 million settlement agreement that will provide compensation to individuals who resided at 11 developmental facilities in Ontario between 1963 and late 1999. The compensation procedure focuses on the harm endured by former residents of these facilities.
HOW TO CLAIM:
If a former resident was alive on or after June 16, 2012 and resided in any of the following Schedule 1 facilities between the dates listed below, that resident or immediate family member may be eligible to receive compensation from the settlement fund.
| Name of Facility |
Location (ON) |
Eligible Period of Residency |
| Adult Occupational Centre |
Edgar |
January 1, 1966 to March 31, 1999 |
| Bluewater Centre |
Goderich |
April 1, 1976 to December 20, 1983 |
| D’Arcy Place |
Cobourg |
September 1, 1963 to December 31, 1996 |
| Durham Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped |
Whitby |
April 1, 1974 to September 28, 1986 |
| L.S. Penrose Centre |
Kingston |
April 1, 1974 to March 31, 1977 |
| Midwestern Regional Centre |
Palmerston |
September 1, 1963 to March 31, 1998 |
| Muskoka Centre |
Gravenhurst |
April 1, 1974 to March 31, 1994 |
| Northwestern Regional Centre |
Thunder Bay |
April 1, 1974 to March 31, 1994 |
| Oxford Regional Centre |
Woodstock |
April 1, 1974 to March 31, 1996 |
| Oxford Mental Health Centre |
Woodstock |
January 1, 1969 to March 31, 1974 |
| Pine Ridge |
Aurora |
September 1, 1963 to August 31, 1984 |
| Prince Edward Heights |
Picton |
January 1, 1971 to December 31, 1999 |
| St Lawrence Regional Centre |
Brockville |
April 1, 1975 to June 30, 1983 |
For more information about the settlement, to make a claim, or if you are unsure whether you lived at one of the institutions that fall under the settlement, you may access the following information:
ARCH Disability Law Centre in Toronto is available to help you make a claim:
In order to receive compensation, you must submit a claim to the Claims Administrator by February 28, 2017.
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