As we noted in our August 4th update, we are actively working on a solution to expand the call center. A new court motion has been filed with the Federal Court of Canada to request that Donna Cona Inc. be appointed to assist with call center and email communications.  As per the Court’s Direction, the motion materials requesting the appointment of Donna Cona are now posted on the “official documents” page of the website.  The court provided an opportunity for individuals to share comments on this motion up until August 21, 2020. The deadline has now passed and comments are closed. We will provide additional information regarding the court motion as soon as it becomes available.

We’d like to provide an update as we continue to move forward the claims review process over the summer months.

Call Center

We recognize that people are waiting for more updates on their individual applications and are experiencing delays with our call center and response time with email inquiries. We understand how hard this waiting is and hear your frustrations. Please know we are actively working on a solution to expand the call center and will provide more information on this as soon as it is ready. Thank you for your patience.   

Applications in progress

As mentioned in our previous update, we are actively reaching out to individuals whose applications are in progress. If you haven’t already, you can expect to hear from us by letter or email over the next few months.

As part of this outreach, some people have received a supplementary claim form requesting additional information. The supplementary claim form is to support applications in cases where no official wardship or adoption records could be found as a result of the Administrator’s search.

This can happen when the claim goes back to events that happened many years ago, and it is certainly no fault of the individual applicants. It would not be fair to deny anyone’s application because official records were lost or destroyed. The supplemental claim form is designed to prevent that situation and resolve the missing information while reducing paperwork as much as possible for applicants. The form is not asking applicants to retell everything that happened, just the main facts and dates so that we can ensure the claim is handled properly and the potential eligibility of the individual is not impacted. 

As a reminder, only people who receive this form in the mail need to complete it. If you received a request to complete a supplemental claims form, please know that it is your right to receive legal support for help with this form at no cost to you.

Resources

We’d also like to remind everyone that Class Counsel is available to support you if you need help providing more information for your application (including completing a supplemental claim form) or have received an “Official Notice of Rejection” and want your application to be reconsidered.  

Applicants have a right to legal counsel and advice throughout the claims process. This support is already paid for under the settlement agreement and is available to you at no cost. You can reach the legal teams responsible for providing you support at the numbers listed on our Contact page. 

And finally, you may have noticed we recently refreshed this website in an effort to make it easier for you to navigate and find what you’re looking for. We are continuing to update the FAQs and make improvements to the site. We are currently working on a new “Resources” section and that will be ready in the coming weeks.

Just a quick update to share that interim payments for Eligible Class Members have begun to go out today.  People should shortly begin to receive these payments either by cheque or, if previously requested, by direct deposit.

We wanted to provide you with a brief update on interim payments to Eligible Class Members (those who have previously been sent a “Notice of Eligible Class Member” letter). The majority of payments to Eligible Class Members have now gone out. We are still working on issuing some payments where there are unique circumstances. If we need more information from you—for example banking or address information— to issue your payment, we will be in touch with you directly by email.

Also, we want to let you know that we are receiving a high volume of calls right now. If you cannot get through immediately, please leave us a message with your full name and phone number.  We will return your call within three business days.

Here are the answers to a few common questions about interim payments that you may find useful:

I requested direct deposit, so why did I receive a cheque?
In some cases a direct deposit wasn’t possible because the banking information didn’t match the information in our files.  For example, we can’t issue a direct deposit to a joint account (an account in two peoples’ names), when only one of those people is an Eligible Class Member.  In a case like that, we would have to issue a cheque instead.

I requested a direct deposit and it hasn’t happened yet. What do I need to do?
It is rare though we have had some situations where we’ve tried to issue a direct deposit, but it hasn’t gone through.  We are actively and urgently working with banking institutions to solve this. If, for some reason, we need additional information from you to process your direct deposit we will be in touch with you directly by email.

I haven’t received my cheque yet. How do I know it hasn’t gotten lost in the mail?
We know that it can take as long as four weeks for mail delivery to certain parts of Canada. If you have not received your cheque in the mail by July 15th please let us know and we will take action. 

My loved one, an Eligible Class Member, passed away. Who will receive the interim payment?
Please let us know if you are in this situation.  We will issue the interim payment to your loved one’s Estate Executor.

Please see our FAQ for more information.

We have heard a few questions from Applicants regarding the interim payment to Eligible Class Members and wanted to provide the following answers for clarification.

How will I get my payment?
You will get your payment by cheque via regular mail through Canada Post unless you have made other arrangements with the Administrator. If your address has changed from the one submitted to the Administrator as part of your claims application and have not since updated this, we strongly suggest you give us a call at 1-844-287-4270  to ensure we have the right information. Requests for payments by direct deposit made by email, mail or fax to the Administrator received by Friday, noon EST, on June 5^th has been processed as such.

What if I get a call requesting my banking information. What should I do?
Please do not give anyone your banking information over the phone.  Collectiva is not asking for your banking information by phone.  If you receive such a call, please hang up immediately. It’s a scam.

Will payments I receive impact my ability to get social benefits?
We expect that a number of benefit programs will not count these payments as “income” that would affect your benefits.  However, we do strongly recommend reaching out to your benefits program directly to confirm this.  It may help to share this letter from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that explains their assessment of these payments as not taxable income. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact Class Counsel.

Following Monday’s announcement by the Federal Court, we are pleased to announce that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a similar interim payment order today. Now that both Courts have approved the order, this means that we can begin issuing an interim payment of $21,000 to all Eligible Class Members. All Eligible Class Members will be receiving this interim payment in the coming weeks.