Published
September 18, 2026
Current and former Canadian Armed Forces members who experienced racial discrimination or racial harassment in connection with their military service at any time from April 17, 1985 may qualify to claim $5,000 to $35,000 CAD from the Canadian Armed Forces racism class action settlement. Claims close October 15, 2026, and no records, witnesses or medical evidence of the experiences themselves are required.
Current Status
Claims are open, and this is the final month of a window that runs one year. The claims period opened on October 15, 2025 and closes October 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST, the time the administrator states. Filing is now possible through the administrator's online portal as well as by the offline methods listed on the official settlement website; the portal changed its authentication method from an authenticator app to a mobile phone number, so anyone who registered earlier has to use the reset-password option to get back in. No payment date has been announced and none can be yet. Under the settlement the administrator adds up every assessed claim only after the claims period ends, and awards are then issued in a single round rather than as each claim clears, so nothing is paid out before late 2026 at the earliest.Free settlement alerts
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Status
Claims Open
approved by the Federal Court · claims period opened October 15, 2025
Claim Deadline
October 15, 2026
11:59 p.m. PST, as stated by the administrator · the opt-out deadline passed April 10, 2025
Estimated Payout
$5,000 to $35,000 CAD
$5,000 Common Experience Payment for every eligible claimant, plus an optional $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 assessed from a written narrative · payments may be adjusted pro rata against the $150 million CAD cap, or raised by up to 20% if claims come in low
Proof Required
Yes — photo ID only
government-issued photo identification, or two non-photo documents giving name, date of birth and signature · no records, witnesses, corroboration or medical evidence of the discrimination or harassment itself
What Changed Recently?
The claims period was supposed to open in the spring of 2025 and did not. Two class members filed an appeal of the approval order in the Federal Court of Appeal on March 17, 2025, and because the Final Settlement Agreement sets the implementation date as the day after any appeal of the approval order is finally determined, the whole claims process had to wait. The parties took the view that the appeal had been filed out of time, but the point still had to be resolved by the court.The Federal Court of Appeal released its decision on that appeal in August 2025. The administrator then set the claims period to run from October 15, 2025 to October 15, 2026.
Online filing came later than the rest. When the claims period opened, claims could only be submitted by email, fax or mail, with the administrator saying an online option was coming. The online claims portal is now live, and it is the route most claimants will want. Its sign-in method has since changed from authenticator apps to mobile phone numbers, which is why anyone who set up an account under the old method is told to select reset password rather than assume the account is broken.
None of this is a finding against anyone. Canada has not admitted liability. What the Final Settlement Agreement does record, in its preamble, is that both sides recognize and acknowledge that racial discrimination and racial harassment have no place in the Canadian Armed Forces, and acknowledge the harm suffered by class members who experienced them.
What the Case Alleged
The statement of claim was filed in the Federal Court on December 14, 2016. It alleged that the Canadian Armed Forces was vicariously liable for systemic negligence and had breached its duty of care, and that section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the guarantee against discrimination on grounds including race, national or ethnic origin and colour — had been infringed.The pleaded particulars included failing to intervene when racist conduct was observed, failing to hold those responsible to account, perpetuating a workplace culture in which racism was treated as acceptable, failing to put in place or apply policies to address and investigate complaints of racial discrimination, failing to investigate such complaints thoroughly and impartially, depriving members of opportunities because of their race, and effectively punishing those who complained.
Canada moved to strike the claim in December 2017, arguing among other things that the CAF owes its members no duty of care in negligence, that internal dispute resolution processes applied, and that two statutory bars blocked the action. That motion was withdrawn in February 2018 when the parties agreed to discuss resolution, and an agreement in principle followed in August 2019.
These allegations were never tested at trial, Canada has not admitted liability, and no court has found it liable. The court's role on the approval motion was limited to deciding whether to certify the class and whether the negotiated settlement was fair and reasonable — it could not rewrite the terms, only approve or reject them.
Who Qualifies?
The class certified by the Federal Court is defined as all persons who are or have been enrolled as Canadian Armed Forces members at any time from April 17, 1985, for any duration, up to and including the Approval Date of January 10, 2025, and who assert that they were subjected to racial discrimination or racial harassment. The claim form adds that the class member must have been alive as of June 6, 2024, the date the Final Settlement Agreement was executed.A few points decide most eligibility questions:
- Any length of service counts. The definition says "for any duration," so a short enrolment is not a bar.
- There is no residency requirement. The class is defined by CAF enrolment, not by where a member lives now.
- The conduct has to connect to military service. Both defined terms reach conduct occurring in connection with military service and involving CAF or foreign military members, Department of National Defence employees, Staff of the Non-Public Funds employees, or CAF/DND contractors.
- Harassment can be a single incident. The settlement defines racial harassment as a series of incidents or one incident that has a lasting impact on the individual.
- An estate can claim where the class member died after June 6, 2024. A representative has to establish legal authority to act, and cheques are issued in the name of the class member or the estate.
- Anyone who opted out by April 10, 2025 is excluded, as is anyone who had a legal proceeding against Canada for the same damages and did not discontinue it by that date — the settlement treats them as having opted out automatically.
How Much Can You Get?
The Monetary Assessment Scheme has two parts, and only the first is mandatory.- Common Experience Payment — $5,000 CAD. Every eligible class member receives it. You qualify by swearing or solemnly affirming on the claim form that you experienced racial discrimination or racial harassment while serving since April 17, 1985, and by describing your racial identity. You do not have to describe what happened to you.
- Assessment of Narrative Evidence — $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 CAD. Optional. If you choose to describe your experiences, independent assessors place the narrative in one of three levels based on the severity and duration of the impacts on personal dignity, bodily and emotional integrity, spiritual well-being and individual relationships. Level A is disruption persisting at least one month, Level B significant disruption persisting at least six months, and Level C severe disruption persisting at least two years.
Those figures are not guaranteed amounts. Individual payments across the entire class cannot exceed $150 million CAD, and the settlement provides that assessed amounts may be reduced pro rata to keep the total inside that ceiling. The same mechanism runs upward: if individual payments total less than $100 million CAD, they may be increased by a maximum of 20 percent. Which way it goes depends on how many people claim and at what levels, and that is not known until the window shuts.
Legal fees do not come out of any of it. Canada pays class counsel $5,000,000 CAD plus tax directly, which the court noted is about 3.33 percent of the settlement and well below what the representative plaintiffs' contingency fee agreement would have allowed. The court also approved honoraria for the representative plaintiffs and for one other class member who was closely involved in the litigation; those are likewise paid outside the settlement funds, so they take nothing from class members. Class counsel assist with completing a claim form at no charge.
What Proof Is Required?
The evidentiary bar here is unusually low by design, and it is worth being precise about what it does and does not ask for.What you must attach is government-issued photo identification — a driver's licence, a Certificate of Indian Status or a passport. The claim form states that this is used only to process the claim, and not to determine whether you are in the class or eligible for payment. If you do not have government photo ID, you indicate that on the form and the administrator will accept two non-photo documents that together give your name, date of birth and signature, such as a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a Social Insurance Number record or other government-issued identification.
What you do not need is everything else. The claim form says, in capital letters, that you do not need to provide any records or documentation to prove the information you provide. The assessment of a narrative is expressly not based on medical diagnoses or corroborative reports, and none are required. If you identify witnesses or other individuals in a narrative, the form states that they will not be contacted or questioned.
A witness does sign the form, but only to the fact of your signature: the instruction is that the witness must only see the claimant sign that page, and is not required to read the claim or verify the accuracy of the events. Claims are received and assessed by the independent court-appointed administrator, whose assessors are trained in trauma-informed approaches, rather than by the CAF.
Submit It Complete — Nothing Can Be Added Later
The administrator's instruction is blunt and it is the most expensive thing on this page to get wrong: once a claim has been submitted, no additional information or documentation can be accepted. There is no supplementing a thin file afterward.Two consequences follow. If you intend to be assessed for more than the Common Experience Payment, Part 5 has to be submitted with the rest of the claim, not sent on later when you have had more time with it. And sections 3 through 7 need to be complete and accurate before anything goes in — the administrator may reject a claim form that is incomplete or missing required information.
Practical advice from the form itself: draft a narrative in a word processor first so you can save, stop and come back to it, then paste it in. If you use extra sheets, write the question number at the top of each one, note "see attached extra sheets" in the answer space, and send them with the claim. The form also notes that the more detail a narrative carries about the duration and severity of the impacts, the more the assessors have to work with.
If a claim is denied, that is not the end of it — the administrator issues an eligibility decision and a denied claimant can request reconsideration of the decision.
What Else the Settlement Provides
Money is the part with a deadline, but the Federal Court's reasons treat it as the smaller half. The judge wrote that the objections arguing the amount was too low failed to recognize the significant non-monetary features of the agreement, which were designed to target structural change.Eligible class members can elect two things when their claim is approved. One is a personalized letter of apology signed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, provided on the condition that it is not admissible as evidence of fault or liability in any other proceeding. The other is participation in a restorative engagement process, in which class members share their experiences with senior CAF leadership with the assistance of trained restorative practitioners. Participation is optional and does not affect eligibility for payment.
Separately, the agreement commits the CAF to Systemic Relief Measures on a four-year timeline, aimed at removing systemic barriers in the organization. These build on the 2022 report of the Minister of National Defence Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination, and on the July 2022 apology to the descendants of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, the all-Black battalion of the First World War. The cost of that program is carried by the CAF rather than taken from the settlement.
What Is the Deadline?
The claims period closes October 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST. That is the time the administrator publishes, and it is the one to work to.Everything else is already behind. The opt-out deadline was April 10, 2025 and has passed, which means class members who did not opt out are bound by the settlement and have given up the right to sue Canada or to bring a human rights complaint over racial discrimination or harassment connected to their service — whether or not they ever file a claim. Filing is the only way to get anything back for a release that is already in effect.
How Do You Take Action?
The claim form and every court document are on the official settlement website run by the court-appointed administrator, Deloitte — Canadian Armed Forces Racism Class Action, in English and French. Claims can be filed through the administrator's online claims portal, and the site also lists offline submission channels for anyone who would rather not file online. Filing is free.In practice that means completing Part 3 with your contact details and CAF service information, attaching your photo identification, completing Part 4 to attest to your experience and describe your racial identity, deciding whether to complete the optional Part 5, and signing Part 7 in front of a witness. If you do not know your CAF service number, the form accepts your Social Insurance Number instead.
Help with the form costs nothing. Class counsel, the Halifax firm Stewart McKelvey, will assist any class member with completing a claim at no charge, and the administrator can discuss alternative submission methods and point to support services. The claim form also carries a support-services section, because working through it means revisiting difficult experiences; both serving members and former members have assistance lines available to them, which the form and the official website set out.
What Happens Next?
Nothing is paid as claims clear. The settlement directs the administrator to determine the Aggregate of Assessed Amounts only once every claim has been assessed and every reconsideration decision made, and that calculation happens after the claims period ends on October 15, 2026. The pro rata adjustment, in whichever direction it runs, cannot be worked out before then. Individual monetary awards are then issued in a single round.The non-monetary programs run on their own clock. The restorative engagement process is being designed and delivered by the Defence Community Support and Resource Centre, and the Systemic Relief Measures carry a four-year timeline with consultation, reporting and benchmark requirements set out in the agreement.
Sources and Verification
• Official claims administration website, claim form and court documents — Deloitte — Canadian Armed Forces Racism Class Action, the court-appointed administrator, for the claims period dates, the submission methods and the portal status• Online claims portal operated by the administrator
• Notice of Certification and Settlement (long form), authorized by the Federal Court — the source for the class definition, the payment levels, the $150 million CAD ceiling and the opt-out terms — embedded below
• Individual Claim Form, for the identification requirement, the Part 4 and Part 5 split, the no-records-required statement, the witness instruction and the deadline
• A.B. and Jean-Pierre Robillard v. His Majesty the King, 2025 FC 282 (Federal Court, Madam Justice Ann Marie McDonald), for the certification and approval reasons, the key settlement terms, the class-size estimate, the legal fees and honoraria, and the objections the court considered
• Final Settlement Agreement dated June 6, 2024, and the Settlement Approval Order, both posted on the official settlement website
• Federal Court file T-2158-16
Questions
Do I have to describe what happened to me to get paid?
No. The $5,000 CAD Common Experience Payment is designed so that you do not have to. Part 4 of the claim form asks you to swear or solemnly affirm that you experienced racial discrimination or racial harassment while serving, and to describe your racial identity, and that is all it asks. Describing your experiences is Part 5, it is explicitly optional, and it is only needed if you want to be assessed for an additional payment of $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 CAD.
Do I need records, witnesses or a medical diagnosis?
No. The claim form states in capital letters that you do not need to provide any records or documentation to prove the information you give, and that the assessment is not based on medical diagnoses or corroborative reports. If you name anyone in a narrative, the form says they will not be contacted or questioned. The one document you must attach is government-issued photo identification, which is used only to process the claim and not to decide eligibility.
Can I add to my claim after I send it in?
No, and this is the most costly mistake available on this claim. The administrator's instruction is that once a claim has been submitted, no additional information or documentation can be accepted. If you intend to complete the optional narrative in Part 5, it has to go in with the rest of the claim rather than follow later. Complete sections 3 through 7 accurately and in full before you send anything.
Will my chain of command or my former unit see what I write?
The claim form states that the information you provide will be kept confidential except as indicated, and that it will not be disclosed to your co-workers, your supervisors or DND/CAF leadership. It also states that the administrator will disclose your name, date of birth, service number or social insurance number and release date to the Government of Canada for the single purpose of verifying your service. Claims are assessed by an independent court-appointed administrator, not by the CAF.
Could the payment come out lower than $5,000?
Yes, if enough people claim. Individual payments across the whole class cannot exceed $150 million CAD, and the settlement provides that assessed amounts may be reduced pro rata to stay inside that cap. The adjustment runs the other way too: if the total comes in under $100 million CAD, individual payments may be increased by up to 20 percent. Nobody can say which applies until the claims period closes and every claim has been assessed.
I already received a payment or a benefit for the same treatment. Am I shut out?
No. The Federal Court's reasons record that Canada agreed to waive its usual restriction on double recovery, so a class member may receive a monetary award here even if they have already been paid through another settlement, a court decision, a human rights complaint or another proceeding. The reasons also record that people who receive or are eligible for Veterans Affairs Canada benefits are not excluded from the class.
Official Settlement Notice
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Settlement Amount
$150,000,000 CAD
a ceiling on the total of all individual payments, not a fixed fund · legal fees, honoraria and the systemic relief program are paid outside it
Case Title
A.B. and Jean-Pierre Robillard v. His Majesty the King
Case Number
T-2158-16
Court
Federal Court of Canada — Hon. Madam Justice Ann Marie McDonald
Class Period
April 17, 1985 – January 10, 2025
enrolment as a CAF member at any time in that window, for any duration · the class member must have been alive as of June 6, 2024
Final Approval Hearing
Held July 16–17, 2024 — approved December 20, 2024
reasons released February 13, 2025 as 2025 FC 282 · Approval Date for administration purposes is January 10, 2025
Administrator
Deloitte LLP
appointed by the Federal Court · claims are assessed by independent assessors, not by the CAF
Official Website
Deloitte — Canadian Armed Forces Racism Class Action
