Class action settlement to pay out $33-million to former EMDC inmates

The Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London, Ont. is seen Saturday, July 3, 2021. (Brent Lale / CTV News)

A Superior Court justice in London, Ont. has endorsed a class action settlement that will see the Province of Ontario pay $33-million to former inmates of the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC).

Any inmates who served time in the detention centre from 2010 to 2021 are eligible for one of three separate payment levels -- $1,500, $12,500 or $35,000.

Up to 12,000 people are eligible for compensation.

An independent agency will determine the payout based on the level of physical or psychological suffering that inmates experienced, with some payments for families of inmates who died inside the facility.

In a hearing last week, Justice Duncan Grace heard from almost two dozen people about their experiences in the EMDC.

During the hearing, Grace described the settlement as “real compensation for people who suffered real harms…not life changing for most, but significant for many.”