The Canadian government has agreed billions of dollars in compensation payments with 325 indigenous peoples.

The Department of Government-Indigenous Peoples Relations said on Saturday that Canada has committed a total of 2.8 billion Canadian dollars (around 1.9 billion euros) to the "collective harm and loss of language, the culture and heritage" suffered by indigenous people from decades of mistreatment in Canadian boarding schools.

It has taken Canada "far too long to acknowledge its history, stand by the genocide it committed and the collective damage done to our nations by the boarding school system," said Garry Feschuk, former leader of the Sechelt people .

However, the agreement that has now been reached is “a first step in the right direction”.

About 150,000 indigenous children sent to boarding schools

Between the late 1800s and the 1990s, the Canadian government sent some 150,000 Indigenous children to boarding schools, many of which were run by the Catholic Church.

They were cut off from their families, their language and their culture.

Many of them were physically and sexually abused.

Officially, more than 4,000 children died as a result of malnutrition, disease and neglect, and it is estimated that more than 6,000 may have died.

In 2015, a national commission of inquiry spoke of a “cultural genocide”.

Survivors demand justice and compensation

The discovery of 1,300 anonymous graves of Indigenous children near former boarding schools sent a shock wave across Canada in 2021.

Many Indigenous peoples blame the homes, which have shaped entire generations, for today's social problems such as alcoholism, domestic violence and increased suicide rates among Indigenous people.

The Department for Crown-Indigenous Relations said on Saturday that the record-breaking compensation that has now been decided is intended to revitalize "education, culture and language" of the 325 indigenous peoples in western Canada and to support the "healing process" of survivors of the boarding school system.

"All survivors deserve justice and reparations," said Minister Marc Miller.

How exactly the now agreed 2.8 billion Canadian dollars will be spent is to be determined by the Canadian federal court on February 27th.