Class-action lawsuit over sexual abuse at Metro Vancouver schools settled for $30M

A pedestrian strolls past Vancouver College Thursday July 25, 2002. The B.C. Supreme Court has approved a $30-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate and the Archbishop of Vancouver over historical claims of sexual and physical abuse.(CP PHOTO/Chuck Stoody)

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Supreme Court has approved a $30-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed over historical claims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at two schools in Metro Vancouver run by the Catholic Church.

The court approved the settlement against Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver.

The lawsuit alleged members of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada were transferred to the schools from the Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John’s, N.L., which became “notorious” for abuse suffered by children there in the 1950s to the 1970s.

The court ruling approving the settlement says four of the people transferred to Vancouver were eventually criminally convicted when the crimes at Mount Cashel were exposed in the 1990s, including defendants Edward English and Kevin Short.

The ruling says more than 200 people came forward to join the class, and Justice Simon Coval’s ruling says he had “no hesitation” approving the $30-million settlement, which includes a “trauma-informed” and confidential claims process that spares the difficulties of a trial.

The ruling says the claims of abuse at Vancouver College spanned from 1976 to 2013 and from 1976 to 1989 at St. Thomas More.

The case was originally filed in 2021, with the class certified in 2023, and though it was set to got to trial in 2024, it was adjourned for a potential settlement, which was reached in February 2026 subject to the court’s approval.

Former students, the ruling said, “described suffering and witnessing sexual, physical and mental abuse at the schools, resulting in mental health challenges, relationship and employment difficulties, substance abuse and loss of faith.”

It said most didn’t object to the settlement, but “many expressed disappointment in the settling defendants’ apparent lack of accountability and moral responsibility for the terrible events allowed to occur at the two schools.”

The schools, however, said they made public statements expressing “profound concern and sympathy for victims of this abuse.”

The Archbishop of Vancouver also put statements into evidence expressing “outrage and discouragement from the failure of church leaders to prevent this abuse, covering it up by moving abusers around, lack of care and concern for the victims, and a commitment to supporting victims on the path to healing.”

Several class members also elected to opt out of the settlement in order to pursue their own individual lawsuits against the defendants.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2026.