The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal led by Indigenous elders who claimed that an under-renovation McGill University building contains Indigenous burial grounds.

The Supreme Court’s rejection effectively permits McGill’s renovation of the building, which previously served as a psychiatric teaching hospital, to commence.

The case arose after Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs discovered the scent of human remains on the site in 2023. Radio-Canada reported a subsequent “increase in hostilities” between the society of Indigenous Mohawk elders, known as the Kahnistensera, and the parties leading the construction, and the Kahnistensera brought the case to court. The Kahnistensera claimed that the land not only holds ancient Indigenous graves but also the potential unmarked graves of Indigenous patients, including children, who allegedly died from MK-Ultra psychiatric experiments by the CIA on the site. The Kahnistensera emphasized that Indigenous-led investigations into the former hospital were vital to ensuring justice.

The Superior Court of Quebec originally granted the Kahnistensera an injunction to stop work in particular areas of the construction site. The Kahnistensera and McGill then signed a settlement agreement that mandated the creation of a three-person archaeological panel that would survey the site for potential graves, specifying that a cooperative approach needed to be utilized to prevent the disturbance of any graves.

In August 2024, the Court of Appeal of Quebec reversed the Superior Court’s decision to grant the injunction. The court held that the agreement lacked sufficient detail in terms of what was required for compliance, which could lead to “difficulties in interpretation and application.” The Kahnistensera then appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court.

Thousands of unmarked Indigenous graves have been discovered at many former residential schools across Canada. In October 2024, Canada’s Office of the Special Interlocutor urged the government to make reparations for the disappearance of Indigenous children who died and were buried at these residential schools. Such findings have resulted in calls for investigation into the sites of other historical institutions, such as hospitals.