Fraser Institute: Ottawa has spent an estimated $113 billion on Indigenous settlements since 1974
Specific claims, class actions and B.C. treaties add up to $113.2 billion in 2026 dollars, and most of it has gone out since 2017, the think tank says.
Ottawa has spent an estimated $113.2 billion, in 2026 dollars, settling Indigenous lawsuits, specific claims and class actions since 1974, and the Fraser Institute says the bulk of it has gone out since 2017, according to a study released Thursday by senior fellow Tom Flanagan and Nathaniel Li.
The study counts three streams. Specific claims, negotiated settlements over past breaches of treaties or the Indian Act, cost $29.4 billion across 801 settlements between 1974-75 and 2025-26. Class actions are the bigger bill: nine class actions or their equivalent settled since 2007 add up to $83.2 billion, of which $49.4 billion went to individuals and $33.8 billion to organizations, including First Nations. Eight British Columbia treaties signed between 2000 and 2016 cost a further $587.3 million. The study excludes treaties outside B.C.
The trend line is the story. In 1974 Ottawa settled two specific claims for $1.8 million. In 2024-25, the peak year, it settled 69 for $7.3 billion, and in 2025-26 another 30 for $2.7 billion. The authors say the number and value of specific claims settled rose sharply from 2017-18 onward.
"The number of claims, and the amount taxpayers need to pay, should be going down, not up," Flanagan said in the release, adding that large payouts act "as an incentive to attract even more legal claims and class action lawsuits to be filed." He says the figures should prompt the question of "whether or not these efforts are improving the wellbeing of indigenous populations in Canada."
The study does not say what caused the increase. One federal policy on the books points the same direction: in January 2019, then-Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould issued the Attorney General's Directive on Civil Litigation Involving Indigenous Peoples. Its guidelines tell government lawyers to treat "the court process as a last resort" and state that "the partial resolution and settlement of litigation must be considered and sought wherever possible." The study does not cite the directive, and the rise it describes began before it was issued. Today the file sits with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, Liberal MP for the Northwest Territories, in Mark Carney's cabinet since May 2025.
Budget 2026 lands November 5. The PBO (Parliamentary Budget Officer, the independent office that costs government plans) projects a $63.3 billion deficit for 2026-27.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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