Robert Cadieux sat in a Cornwall, Ont., courtroom this week and heard the words he's waited months to hear when the young man responsible for the death of Cadieux's wife told him he's sorry.

Kristine Cadieux, 32, was killed on June 28, 2017, when the couple's van was rear-ended on Highway 401 just west of Cornwall.

The 20-year-old driver of the other vehicle, Felix Laframboise of Saint-Hubert, Que., was charged with careless driving. He had fallen asleep at the wheel.

It's been a long road for Cadieux and his children to get the apology, and to get the opportunity to formally express the pain caused by Kristine Cadieux's loss.

In January Laframboise pleaded guilty and was fined $2,000, but Cadieux said he was never informed of the hearing, nor given the chance to make a victim impact statement.

Laframboise appeared in court again on Feb. 28, 2018, because the Crown wanted to appeal the previous sentence and amend it to include an 18-month driver's licence suspension.

Crown attorney Dan Brisebois had asked Justice Diane Lahaie to allow both Robert Cadieux and his sister-in-law to present victim impact statements at the hearing, which Cadieux came prepared to do.

But when the judge decided to delay her decision on whether to allow the appeal until March 27, it meant the family had to wait again.

With a decision to allow the appeal delivered on Tuesday, Cadieux finally got his moment.

"I was crying and shaking like a leaf," he said. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life."

He delivered his victim impact statement from a podium barely a metre from where Laframboise sat.

"I had Felix Laframboise's attention. I had his mother's attention. I had his lawyer's attention. It was like I was talking to them," Cadieux said.

When Laframboise had his opportunity to speak, he read from a prepared statement.

Cadieux said it was hard to understand him because he was speaking in French, and Cadieux was listening through a translator.

"I was only catching a few of the words, but I knew he was apologizing to us," he said.

After court was dismissed, Laframboise went over to Cadieux's family and held out his hand. Cadieux said they gave him a hug and his youngest son Clayton shook Laframboise's hand.

"It's the first time I've seen Clayton cry since the funeral," Cadieux said. "We weren't expecting anything positive to happen in the courtroom after the way we've been treated."

He said he plans to pursue the issue with the justice system, and the family has a civil case ahead.

But Cadieux said hearing the apology provided him with an enormous sense of relief.

"There is finally a feeling of peace within me. I feel like there is a weight lifted off my shoulders," he said.