CANADA, June 6 - More people belonging to the Sons of Freedom Doukhobor community are receiving financial health and well-being support, as part of the B.C. government’s apology for historical wrongs committed against them.
In August 2024, the Province, in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross, distributed funds to living survivors who were forcibly apprehended and kept in New Denver as children. Now, the remaining health and well-being funds will be shared among:
- living survivors who were not school-aged when they were forcibly taken, and
- deceased survivors’ descendants, including spouses or common-law partners and legally adopted children.
Descendants of survivors who are still alive or who have already received the health and well-being fund are not eligible to receive additional support.
This work is part of the Province’s ongoing efforts to honour the legacy of the New Denver survivors and to acknowledge the hardships they experienced at the hands of government.
People who believe they may be eligible to receive support but have not been contacted can email the Ministry of Attorney General: sofd@gov.bc.ca.
The deadline to contact the ministry is January 2026.
In 1899, the Doukhobors fled persecution in Russia, seeking refuge in Canada. Many settled in the Kootenay Boundary region in B.C. During the first half of the 20th century, the Province targeted the Sons of Freedom, a group within the Doukhobor community, with fines and seizure of property for acts of civil disobedience, such as missing school and protesting naked.
In addition, hundreds of children from the Sons of Freedom were forcibly removed from their families and placed in institutions in New Denver between 1953 and 1959. There, many of the children were subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse that left deep, generation-spanning scars on them, their families, loved ones and the broader community.
The Province issued a formal apology for these historical wrongs in February 2024.
Learn More:
For guidelines on determining eligibility and how to access the funds, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Backgrounder%20-%20SoF%20Health_Wellbeing%20Funds%20Phase%202.pdf
To learn more about government’s apology, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/30239
