Question:
What does the Government of Canada still owe the 23,985 people whose claims were approved in the Heyder and Beattie Class Actions?
Answer:
Evidence of institutional learning and lasting reform.
What the Settlement Promised
The Heyder and Beattie joint class actions concerned sexual harassment, sexual assault, and/or discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation connected with CAF service or DND/Staff of the Non-Public Funds employment.
The CAF-DND Sexual Misconduct Final Settlement Agreement was approved by Federal Court on November 25, 2019. The administrator received 25,933 claims, approving 23,985—over 92 per cent—for payment.
However, the agreement was about much more than individual compensation; it also imposed measures intended to advance institutional learning and reform.
It required Canada to establish a Restorative Engagement Program under Schedule K, conduct an external review on Operation Honour and the then Sexual Misconduct Response Centre on or after February 25, 2025, under Schedule L, and provide at least $2 million under section 8 for awareness and culture-change measures.
The Minister’s December 13, 2021 public apology reinforced those obligations. Defence’s senior leaders acknowledged failures to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct and committed to changing the culture and rebuilding trust.
Nearly five years later, that apology’s credibility depends on evidence of systemic change, including independently measured reductions in sexual misconduct.
What Happened to the Learning?
The Restorative Engagement Program, run by the Centre now called the Defence Community Support and Resource Centre, allowed class members to share their experiences with Defence representatives—to be heard and contribute to institutional learning.
Schedule K required the Centre to identify themes, lessons and recommendations; produce a public final report; and determine with CAF/DND how those findings would inform policy, training and culture change.
Although 6,403 claimants initially indicated interest, DND’s December 2025 evaluation reported that 1,900 later confirmed interest. By April 2025, only 662 had participated, including just 210 who engaged with a Defence representative.
The evaluation found the program’s institutional impact remained unknown, citing critical gaps in knowledge-sharing, performance measurement, and sustainability strategies.
The Schedule L external review must assess whether the Centre converted those 210 class members’ experiences into genuine institutional change—not merely whether the program operated as designed.
Why Checkmarks Are Not Enough
This pattern is familiar. In 2021, a senior CAF official told Parliament that all ten Deschamps recommendations had been “achieved.” Former deputy minister Jody Thomas later acknowledged the report had been treated like a checklist rather than truly implemented – a finding confirmed when DND’s ADM(RS) review revealed none of the ten action plans had reached full implementation.
In June 2026, after Bill C-11 received Royal Assent, DND declared all 48 Arbour recommendations “deemed addressed.” But one legislative change does not prove the other 47 recommendations were meaningfully implemented or effective.
Arbour explicitly recommended a Sexual Misconduct Resource Centre focused solely on complainants, victims and survivors of sexual misconduct. DND instead renamed it the Defence Community Support and Resource Centre and expanded its mandate to racism. How does this align with the report’s true intent? Arbour also called for the Centre’s External Advisory Council to publish an annual report providing an independent external perspective on the Centre’s role and performance. Where are those reports?
Demand an Update for Every Class Member
Class members are long overdue a plain-language update explaining what was learned and changed through this settlement.
The update must detail the Restorative Engagement Program’s effectiveness, the status and findings of the required external review, and what the culture-change funding accomplished. Class members deserve transparent metrics on policy, training and culture shifts; measurable outcomes; unfinished work; and who will independently verify future progress.
It’s time for class members to demand this accounting. Contact class legal counsel and ask whether the government’s obligations under the agreement have been fulfilled.
Any Canadian can also write to their Member of Parliament and the Minister of National Defence requesting a status report on the remaining work. Share the responses received with survivors, veterans’ organizations, and journalists.
When officials claim sexual misconduct has been “addressed,” we must challenge that framing. Demand that they update every class member and show the evidence of reform. A government checkmark is not proof of institutional reform. We all know—there is still more work to be done.
