The federal government, the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces will today apologize to victims of military sexual misconduct.

The apology was first promised in 2019 as part of a $600 million settlement with current and former service members in several class-action lawsuits. The apology will come in three parts, with Defense Minister Anita Anand speaking on behalf of the government.

Chief of Defense Staff General; Wayne Eyre will apologize to the military while Deputy Minister of National Defense; Jody Thomas will do the same for the Department.

Officials previously said they were expecting an in-person event, but the Defense Department says today’s apology will be delivered virtually and streamed online due to COVID-19. The apology comes as the liberal government and military leadership struggle with allegations of sexual misconduct involving senior officials.

The government had faced calls from the Royal Canadian Legion and others to grant an apology before the 18-month window for victims to submit their claims as part of a settlement that closed last month.

About 19,000 claims were submitted before the claims period expired on November 24, although Jonathan Ptak, a lawyer representing victims in some of the six overlapping lawsuits, says victims can still submit applications.

“While the filing deadline was November 24, the Settlement Administrator has the discretion to extend this deadline by 60 days (up to January 23, 2022), due to exceptional circumstances, or the claimant’s incapacity,” Patak said in an email.”

“To date, several late claims have been accepted for consideration.”

More than 5,300 claims have already been approved for payment, while around 4,900 have also asked to participate in the “resettlement engagement”.