Canada has signed a convention aimed at setting up a commission to adjudicate compensation claims against Russia for its war on Ukraine, becoming the first country outside Europe to do so. The convention includes eligible claimants from Canada and Ukrainians living in Canada, as well as Canadian companies that suffered losses in Ukraine.
A police expert works at the site of a Russia n drone strike, amid Russia 's attack on Ukraine , in Kyiv in April. Canada on Monday became the first country outside Europe to sign a convention aimed at setting up a commission that will adjudicate compensation claims against Russia for its war on Ukraine , a step Ottawa said reflects its commitment to holding Moscow accountable for the military assault.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government said in a statement Monday that Canadians, Ukrainians living in Canada, and Canadian companies that suffered losses in Ukraine would all be eligible to file claims. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand signed the convention, which is intended to establish a body called the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, on Monday in Brussels.
The commission, once operational, will assess claims and determine compensation owed by Russia for damage, loss or injury caused by the Kremlin’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, which began in February 2022. The convention was signed by 35 European countries and the European Union at a conference in The Hague last December. It is the second of a three-part compensation plan developed under the Council of Europe, a 46-nation human-rights body.
The first part, a Register of Damage for Ukraine, has reportedly received more than 150,000 claims. A third component — a compensation fund to actually pay any awards the commission issues — has yet to be established, with frozen Russian assets the most likely eventual source. Canada must still ratify the convention before it becomes a full member. The commission itself cannot begin work until at least 25 countries ratify the convention and sufficient funding is secured.
So far, a handful have done so. Russia’s war on Ukraine has killed more than 15,000 civilians and injured more than 41,000, displaced millions, and damaged and destroyed civilian property and infrastructure, according to a February report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. As of December, the World Bank and several other organizations estimated the cost of rebuilding Ukraine over the next decade would be US$588-billion.
Four years ago, the government of then-prime-minister Justin Trudeau passed legislation to give Canada the power to confiscate assets of foreigners and foreign entities frozen under sanctions law. Ottawa has used this to go after several targets, including the holdings of a company it says is owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, with the intent of passing the funds to Ukraine. The RCMP says more than $185-million of assets in Canada since 2022 have been frozen through sanctions targeting Russia.
The force has not said what portion of these are Russian state assets. The bulk of frozen Russian state assets outside of Russia are believed to reside in Europe with Belgian securities depository Euroclear. Recent estimates say it holds more than €200-billion of Russian assets under sanction, most of which are Central Bank of Russia reserves. Euroclear reported earlier this year that about 7 per cent of the holdings under sanction are Canadian-denominated assets: more than $20-billion.
If those Canadian-denominated holdings are held with Canadian financial institutions, they are subject to Canadian law, according to Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University. A Senate bill making its way through Parliament proposes to strengthen Canada’s hand by giving Ottawa the explicit power to confiscate foreign state assets.
Bill S-214, which cleared the Senate foreign affairs committee last week, would allow Ottawa to override the immunity normally granted to foreign states under Canadian law, enabling the government, for example, to target Kremlin assets in the name of righting international wrongs. Prof. Hampson said any money Ottawa confiscates from frozen Russian assets in Canada would likely be funnelled to the International Claims Commission for Ukraine.
“All the pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place. ” Canada’s decision to sign the convention comes as the Carney government seeks to distinguish Ottawa’s foreign policy from that of the United States, which has so far not backed the claims commission for Ukraine. The Trump administration has instead pursued direct diplomacy aimed at ending the war on terms that Ukrainian and European officials fear could reward Russian aggression.
Diplomacy International Relations Canada Ukraine Russia War Convention Damages Human-Rights Council Of Europe Register Of Damage International Claims Commission For Ukraine Ratification Funding