The Yukon courthouse on Second Avenue in Whitehorse in June 2022. (Jim Elliot/Yukon News)
The Yukon Supreme Court has approved a settlement for former students of Jack Hulland Elementary School, clearing the way for a compensation process for children who were subjected to holds, restraints, and seclusion over a 15-year period.
The decision was delivered orally in November 2025, but the court’s written reasons, released Jan. 27, 2026, outline how eligible former students can claim between $10,000 and $1 million through a three‑tier compensation process, depending on the type and level of harm they can establish.
The Yukon government was also ordered to fund a $250,000 counselling program, pay the plaintiffs’ legal costs up to the date of approval, and issue a public acknowledgement of the harms experienced by students.
The ruling was released Jan. 27, 2026, by Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan, who wrote that the agreement is “fair, adequate and reasonable” for the class as a whole, meaning the entire group of former Jack Hulland students represented in the certified class action.
The representative action was filed in 2022 on behalf of more than 1,200 students who attended the Whitehorse school between 2007 and 2022. The court said the lawsuit alleged children were physically restrained, placed in isolation rooms and confined in a classroom known as “the Nest,” where small cubicles with glass doors were used to separate students for varying periods of time.
According to the judgment, the Yukon government admitted it owed a duty of care and trust to students at the school. It also admitted liability for the actions of its staff and acknowledged that it failed to meet the standard of care required to monitor and enforce its own policies on the use of holds, restraints, and seclusion.
The settlement approved by the court creates a three‑tier claims process overseen by independent adjudicators. The court said Tier 1 provides compensation of up to $35,000 for those who can show they were subjected to a restraint or seclusion incident, Tier 2 allows payments up to $300,000 for those who can establish harm, and Tier 3 provides up to $1 million for those who can prove injury caused by government negligence.
Duncan wrote that the process is designed to be trauma‑informed and accessible, with paper‑based options for Tier 1 claims and limits on the number of expert reports required for higher tiers. The Yukon government may contest claims on specific grounds outlined in the agreement, including whether a claimant was enrolled at the school during the relevant period.
The settlement also includes a $250,000 counselling fund for class members and their families, with up to $5,000 available per claimant for services not covered by insurance or government programs. Two representative plaintiffs will receive $10,000 payments for their roles in advancing the case.
One class member objected to the settlement during a hearing on Nov. 14, 2025, according to the court. The objection raised concerns about the lack of culturally appropriate counselling, the absence of a mechanism for claimants to share their experiences and the disproportionate impact on Indigenous children.
Duncan addressed the concerns in her written reasons but concluded the settlement met the legal test for approval. She wrote that the agreement was reached after extensive negotiations, including a two‑day mediation with an experienced class‑action mediator, and that the plaintiffs had gathered a significant amount of evidence through discovery, expert reports and witness interviews.
The court noted that despite the government’s admissions, risks remained for the plaintiffs if the case proceeded to trial. Duncan wrote that uncertainty around how the standard of care would be determined, combined with the lack of class‑action legislation in the Yukon, could have resulted in lengthy and burdensome individual proceedings for former students.
The judgment states that all documents submitted to the Claims Officer will remain confidential unless a claimant consents to disclosure or a court orders it. According to the written judgement, claimants will have two years from the publication of the notice of the claims process to file their applications, and decisions may be appealed to the case management justice.
Plaintiffs’ counsel told the court they have been contacted by roughly 250 potential claimants so far, according to the written judgment. Once all claims are resolved, the class action will be formally dismissed. Duncan concluded that the settlement provides meaningful compensation, avoids the emotional strain of a trial and ensures accountability from the Yukon government.
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