Newfoundland Court Partially Certifies Innu Day School Class Action

The Innu day school class action moves forward, with negligence claims against Canada struck The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has given a partial green light to the Innu day school class action launched in 2024 on behalf of as many as 2,000 Labrador Innu survivors. Innu Nation Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) , 2026 NLSC 101 , is a split ruling: some claims survive, while others are struck. Two classes were certified in this August 26, 2026 decision: Justice Peter N. Browne of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador certified the following claims to proceed: However, the following claims are struck without prejudice, with leave to amend: The plaintiffs’ pleadings acknowledged that Canada did not operate the schools day-to-day. As its role was limited to funding and participation in educational committees, that was not enough to ground a private law duty of care . To apply the core policy immunity principle, the court drew on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in Cooper v. Hobart , 2001 SCC 79 , and Nelson (City) v. Marchi , 2021 SCC 41 : The same reasoning struck the Province’s language and culture negligence claim. Rather than operational acts, those were policy choices about curriculum design, language-of-instruction decisions, and resource allocation. As such, the language and culture negligence claim was struck without prejudice, with leave to amend. In this Innu day school class action , all three forms of fiduciary duty survived: On s. 35 Aboriginal rights, Justice Browne noted that jurisprudence on Indigenous language, culture, and governance continues to evolve. He could not conclude the asserted rights were incapable of recognition in Canadian law. The Honour of the Crown claim also survived. While the court acknowledged it is not a standalone tort, it confirmed it is a “flexible and capacious doctrine” from which specific legal obligations can arise, citing Quebec (Attorney General) v. Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan , 2024 SCC 39 . Consequently, striking the claim without a full evidentiary record was not an option. Bookmark Canadian Lawyer’s Personal Injury page for more news, articles, and updates for Canadian legal professionals. The Canadian Legal Newswire is a FREE newsletter that keeps you up to date on news and analysis about the Canadian legal scene, providing targeted news and information of interest to Canadian Lawyers. Please enter your email address below to subscribe.