CLASS PROCEEDINGS (BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALBERTA)
Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Amended Plan of Compromise and Arrangement of the Lutheran Church – Canada, the Alberta-British Columbia District Investments Ltd. (“DIL”) dated January 11, 2016 and the DIL Subcommittee Order made on August 2, 2016 in the CCAA Proceedings, Sugden McFee & Roos LLP has been retained by the DIL Creditors’ Subcommittee to act as Representative Counsel on behalf of the DIL depositors who have suffered financial damages and losses arising from the insolvency of DIL.
Sugden McFee & Roos LLP has filed proposed class proceedings on behalf of the DIL depositors in both Alberta and British Columbia. Please click on the links below to read the Notice of Civil Claim filed in B.C. on December 20, 2016, and the Statement of Claim filed in Alberta on December 20, 2016.
Notice of Civil Claim Filed December 20, 2016
Statement of Claim – Filed Dec 20 2016
By order of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench made on January 23, 2015, these proposed class proceedings actions are stayed (suspended) until the CCAA proceedings have been concluded by the filing of the Monitor’s Certificates. We will update this webpage when we are advised by the Monitor that this has occurred.
Update: October 25, 2017
By Order of Madame Justice Romaine made in the CCAA Proceedings on October 25, 2017, the stay (suspension) of the proposed class proceedings has been lifted and the proceedings may continue.
Update: October 15, 2021
re: Partial Settlement of the DIL Representative Action
The DIL Creditors’ Subcommittee, including the proposed Representative Plaintiffs in the proposed class proceedings (aka the “DIL Representative Actions”), have entered into an agreement to settle the claims of the Representative Class members against certain defendants. The settlement is subject to court approval, which will be sought in a hearing before Mr. Justice Rooke, ACJ of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, AB on November 25, 2021 at 10:00 am MT/9:00 am PST.
For more information about the settlement, to view settlement documents, and for Representative Class Members to access the Portal where confidential information about the settlement is shared, click here.
If you wish to attend the settlement approval hearing, you may do so by clicking on the virtual courtroom link below and entering the passcode Courts1125 (26878722 from cellphones). The “event number” is 2482 491 4230.
https://albertacourts.webex.com/albertacourts/j.php?MTID=m2e0323f5d81315bf50fe8a640af56b8f
Update: November 25, 2021
The partial settlement and certification hearing which commenced on November 25, 2021 has been adjourned to December 8, 2021. Please check back on this page for further updates.
Update: December 7, 2021
The Plaintiff’s application for approval of the partial settlement of the DIL Representative Action will continue on December 8, 2021 before Mr.Justice Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. Those wishing to attend the hearing by videoconference may do so by clicking on the link below. The hearing will commence at 9:00 am PST/10:00 am MT. If you plan to attend, please log in at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Recording or rebroadcasting of the hearing is not permitted.
https://albertacourts.webex.com/meet/virtual.courtroom89
Update: December 8, 2021
NOTICE OF PARTIAL SETTLEMENT APPROVAL
A Partial Settlement has been approved by the Court
Sugden McFee & Roos LLP, Class Counsel for the DIL Representative Action Class Members, is pleased to advise that Mr. Justice Rooke ACJ pf the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench has approved the partial settlement and certification of the DIL Representative Action, effective November 25, 2021. The court order approving the partial settlement and certification is subject to a one month appeal period which will expire on December 26, 2021. If no appeal is filed, and subject to the advice and direction of Madame Justice Romaine of the CCAA Court, Class Counsel expects to be able to begin disbursing the settlement funds to Class Members by mid-January 2022. Please check back on this website on or after January 7, 2022 for further updates.
An Approval Notice will be sent to all DIL Representative Action Class Members by mail on December 17, 2021. The Notice includes a DIL Representative Action Settlement Funds Payment Election Form. If you have questions about the Form, or any other matter related to the partial settlement or the Approval Notice, please contact Class Counsel at [email protected] or the Settlement Administrator at [email protected].
For further information about the partial settlement, please refer to the Order for Approval and Certification for Partial Settlement, and the Approval Notice.
Update: February 25, 2022
As per the Approval Notice, all class members who have or have had an RRSP, TFSA and/or RRIF account with Canada Life (formerly Great West Life) will have their settlement payments deposited to those accounts. Closed accounts will be reopened for this purpose. We expect that Canada Life will have processed those deposits by March 3, 2022.
Class counsel does not have access to class members’ Canada Life account numbers. Class members must contact Canada Life directly for that information. A semi-annual statement will be issued by Canada Life in June/July 2022 reflecting the payment; accordingly, class members should ensure that Canada Life has been provided with their current mailing address. However, class members may contact Canada Life at any time to access the funds in their accounts.
Class members who have never had an account with Canada Life/Great West Life or who are over the age of 71 and are therefore not eligible to make deposits to their RRSP have received an election form in the mail whereby they may elect to have their settlement funds paid to their account at a different financial institution, or to them directly by cheque. The deadline for making this election is March 1, 2022 and the election form must be received by the Settlement Administrator MNP Ltd. by this date. The election form may be emailed to the Settlement Administrator at [email protected]. All elections will be honoured and settlement payments made by April 1, 2022. For those class members from whom an election form is not received, settlement payments will be issued by cheque to the class member’s last known mailing address.
Questions regarding the payment process may be forwarded to the Settlement Administrator at [email protected].
Update – April 1, 2022
lass Counsel Errin Poyner is pleased to advise that all settlement payments have been made to the Class Members in accordance with the terms of the Partial Settlement Approval and Certification Order. Payments made to class member accounts held with Canada Life were made on February 15, 2022. Payments made to alternate financial institutions pursuant to class member elections, and payments made to class members by cheque, were mailed on April 1, 2022.
Where payments have been made to class members by cheque, the Settlement Administrator has withheld the tax payable on the withdrawal of registered RRSP funds and will be remitting those funds to CRA on behalf of the affected class members on or before June 1, 2022. The Settlement Administrator will issue T4 forms to Class Members for inclusion with their 2022 tax returns at the appropriate time. No withholdings have been made for the withdrawal of TFSA funds. If you have a question about withholdings made from your settlement payment, please contact Class Counsel at [email protected] or the Settlement Administrator at [email protected].
Update: December 16, 2025
INFORMATION REGARDING THE SETTLEMENT OF THE DIL REPRESENTATIVE ACTION AS AGAINST THE REMAINING DEFENDANTS
Sugden McFee & Roos LLP is pleased to announce that the DIL Creditors Subcommittee (including the Plaintiffs in the class proceeding, aka the “DIL Representative Action”) have entered into Settlement Agreements with the remaining Defendants in the Action
a) With the Defendants Francis Taman, Bishop & McKenzie LLP, a Partnership, John Williams, Ronald Chowne, and Prowse Chowne, a Partnership (the “Second Settling Parties”), a Pierringer Agreement dated March 25, 2025 (the “Second Settlement Agreement”);
b) With the Defendant Concentra Trust/La Societe de Fiducie Concentra (the “Third Settling Party”), a Settlement Agreement dated April 7, 2025 (the “Third Settlement Agreement”); and
c) With the Defendants Lutheran Church-Canada and Lutheran Church – Canada Financial Ministries (the “Fourth Settling Parties”), a Settlement Agreement dated September 17, 2025 (the “Fourth Settlement Agreement”)
The Settlement Agreements are subject to the approval of Justice Poelman of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench. On October 1, 2025, Justice Poelman ordered that the Plaintiffs’ application for approval of the Settlement Agreements, partial certification of the DIL Representative Action for the purposes of settlement, and payment of class counsel fees (the “Court Application”), could proceed. That application has now been scheduled to be heard at 1:00 pm (MT) on Friday, January 23, 2026 at the Calgary Courts Centre located at 601 5th Street SW, Calgary AB.
Justice Poelman has approved a form of Combined Hearing Notice (Second, Third and Fourth Settlements) which has been sent to all DIL depositors who have opted in or are deemed to have opted in to the DIL Representative Action. Justice Poelman has also issued a Combined Hearing Notice Approval Order (Second, Third and Fourth Settlements) These documents are attached below. Please review them to learn how you may view and/or participate in the Court Application if you wish to do so.
The Court’s approval of all three Settlement Agreements will bring this litigation to an end.
FOR DIL REPRESENTATIVE CLASS MEMBERS ONLY:
It is a term of each the Settlement Agreements that the total amount of the Consideration (money) payable by the Settling Defendants to the DIL depositors who have opted into or are deemed to have opted into the proposed class proceeding shall remain confidential, subject to the discretion of the Court. Accordingly, the amount of the Consideration has been redacted from each of the Settlement Agreements posted to this page.
However, class members are entitled to know the amount of money that will be paid to them if the Settlement Agreements are approved by the Court. The accounting firm of MNP Ltd. has been retained to act as the Settlement Administrator. To learn your own estimated share of the Consideration payable under the Settlement Agreements (subject to the approval of the Settlement Agreements by the Court, and which may change based upon order(s) made by the Court at the Court Application), please click on this link to the DIL Settlement Portal and access the confidential Settlement Calculator using the personalized passcode provided to you in the Hearing Notice which has been emailed or mailed to you by the Settlement Administrator at your last known address provided to the Monitor in the CCAA Proceedings. This information is confidential and should not be divulged to anyone other than those assisting you with computer access and/or your professional advisors on a confidential basis.
Please direct any questions to Class Counsel Errin Poyner at [email protected] or Settlement Administrator Rick Anderson at [email protected]