What if I was removed while living off reserve?
May 22, 2026
Eligibility for compensation under the First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan’s Principle Settlement is determined by the terms of the Settlement Agreement. These negotiated terms were approved by the Federal Court and outline who is included and who is not. The information below explains how this applies when a removal occurred while living off reserve.
On reserve eligibility requirement
To be eligible for compensation under the Removed Child Class or the Removed Child Family Class, the Removed Child or at least one Caregiving Parent or Caregiving Grandparent must have been Ordinarily Resident on Reserve or living in the Yukon at the time of the removal.
If you were not Ordinarily Resident on Reserve or living in the Yukon at the time of the removal, or if you were in the provincial child welfare system, you would not be eligible for compensation under these Classes.
Some people may receive an Inconclusive Eligibility letter if the records currently available to the Administrator do not clearly confirm whether the Child or caregiver was Ordinarily Resident on Reserve or living in the Yukon at the time of the removal.
For full eligibility requirements for each Class, visit www.FNChildClaims.ca.
What does “Ordinarily Resident on Reserve” mean?
Being Ordinarily Resident on Reserve means that your main home was on reserve, even if you were temporarily living elsewhere.
You may still be considered Ordinarily Resident on Reserve if you were temporarily living off reserve for reasons such as:
- Education or training
- Work
- Medical care or social services that were not available on reserve
What matters most is where your primary home was at the time of removal.
You are considered Ordinarily Resident on Reserve if:
- You lived on a reserve at least 50% of the time and did not have a primary residence elsewhere.
- You lived off reserve to attend a full time post-secondary education or training program that was supported by the federal government, a First Nation or an Indigenous organization, and:
- You would otherwise have lived on reserve
- You had a home on reserve
- Your family had a home on reserve
- You lived on reserve with your parents or caregivers when not attending the program.
- You lived off reserve temporarily to receive health care or access social services that were not available on reserve, but you would otherwise have lived on reserve.
If the removal happened while living off reserve
If your removal happened through the provincial child welfare system, you are not included in this Settlement. One strong indicator of that is if the removal happened when you or your caregiver was living off reserve.
The First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan’s Principle Settlement addresses harms caused by the discriminatory underfunding of the federal First Nations Child and Family Services Program. This program applied only to First Nations Children and families living on reserve or in the Yukon.
Because of this, the Settlement does not include:
- First Nations people living off reserve
- Métis or Inuit children and families
This direction was determined through the Settlement Court process and is described in the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
Other class actions for off reserve removals
Indigenous children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who were removed from off reserve homes, and their caregivers, may in the future become eligible for compensation through separate class actions, often referred to as the Millennium Scoop Class Actions.
These class actions are not overseen by the Administrator for this Settlement.
They may include compensation for:
- Indigenous children removed from off reserve homes since 1992
- Indigenous children denied prompt access to essential services since 1992
- Caregiving parents and grandparents of those children
Some exceptions apply. For example, in Nunavik, Quebec, compensation for off reserve Inuit children and families may apply to impacts dating back to 1975.
These class action cases are at various stages in the courts, and none of the cases have so far been settled or gone to trial. Therefore, no compensation is payable under any of these cases at this time. To learn more about the class actions for off reserve removals, visit www.MillenniumScoopCan.ca .
