VANCOUVER — A $30-million settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit by former students of two Vancouver-area Catholic schools over allegations of decades of child abuse at the hands of Christian Brothers.
Vancouver-based CFM Lawyers says in a statement that Vancouver College, St. Thomas More Collegiate and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver and the plaintiffs have come to a settlement that is awaiting court approval.
The hearing for the approval process starts April 30 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
The statement from the law firm says the defendants also include four Christian Brothers.
The lawsuit alleges that the schools allowed the Christian Brothers with a known history of child abuse to be transferred into teaching positions at the institutions.
The case was certified as a class-action by the B.C. Supreme Court in March 2023.
The legal action alleged that the Christian Brothers transferred six abusive members who were all later convicted of sexual or physical abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Vancouver College confirmed Monday that a settlement had been reached.
It said in a letter posted on its website on Friday that the school hopes the development represents “an important step forward.”
“Vancouver College remains committed to a trauma-informed reconciliation process, and we believe in truth and restorative justice,” the statement says.
“We understand and support the importance of ensuring that victims of any abuse have their experiences heard to facilitate healing and understanding.”
The school also says it “has and will continue to condemn abuse in any form, particularly as it may affect children.”
The lawsuit said that among the six members transferred to B.C. by the Christian Brothers was Brother Edward English, who had confessed to abusing children at Mount Cashel before being transferred.
English was convicted in 1991 of multiple counts of sexual and physical abuse at Mount Cashel and received a 10-year prison sentence.
The Christian Brothers order was not a defendant in the B.C. legal action, having declared bankruptcy in 2011.
The class-action was launched by former Vancouver College student Darren Liptrot, who said in the original notice of civil claim that he was abused by English from 1980 to 1985 when he attended the school from Grade 8 to 12.
The Canadian Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually abused, but Liptrot had asked to be named.
The claim said other abuses took place from 1976 to 2013 at Vancouver College and between 1976 to 1989 at St. Thomas More, and anyone fitting the class description who did not opt out as of Nov. 28, 2024, qualifies as a class member in the case.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2026.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
