Federal government has spent more than $15M fighting Black class-action lawsuit

President and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat Nicholas Marcus Thompson speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — The federal government has spent more than $15 million fighting a class-action lawsuit filed by Black public servants, documents filed in Parliament show.

A document prepared by the Department of Justice said the government’s legal costs amounted to approximately $15,024,452 as of September.

The proposed class action lawsuit was launched by Black public servants in 2020 who alleged systemic racism within the public service.

A Federal Court judge earlier this year dismissed a motion to certify the lawsuit, which sought $2.5 billion in damages because of lost salaries, pensions and promotions as a result of systemic discrimination across 99 government departments.

In an “order and reasons” document, Justice Jocelyne Gagne said the case did not meet the bar for a class action and the scope of the plaintiffs’ claim “simply makes it unfit for a class procedure.”

The plaintiffs in the case are appealing the court’s decision.

The parliamentary document says the total includes legal services to support the preservation of records covering 99 departments and agencies, examinations, Canada’s response to the plaintiffs’ motions and Canada’s motion to strike the claim.

The total has almost doubled since 2023, when the government had spent nearly $8 million fighting to dismiss the lawsuit.

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, president and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat, said in a statement that while the government publicly acknowledges the existence of anti-Black discrimination and settles class actions brought by other groups, it “continues to target Black workers with costly and aggressive legal battles.”

“By choosing to fight rather than fix the problem, the government reinforces the very systemic racism it claims to oppose,” Thompson said.

The Black Class Action Secretariat is calling on the federal government to settle the class action and provide “long-overdue” compensation and structural change to workers.

It’s also calling for the government to amend the Employment Equity Act, launch the Black Mental Health Program and establish an independent Black Equity Commissioner.

The head of Canada’s military formally apologized Thursday to the Canadian Armed Forces for the service’s history of racist discrimination and vowed to improve the situation for racialized CAF members.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan teared up as she delivered a rare, emotional speech to the rank and file in Ottawa. In it, she apologized to every armed forces member who has experienced racial discrimination.

With files from Kyle Duggan.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press