List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada

Beverley McLachlin is the current Chief Justice of Canada and the first woman to hold this position.

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada. It was created in 1875 by a law passed by the Parliament of Canada, the Supreme and Exchequer Court Act.^[1] Since 1949, the Court has been the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. Originally composed of six justices (the Chief Justice of Canada and five puisne justices), the Court was expanded to seven justices by the creation of an additional puisne justice position in 1927,^[2] and then to nine justices by the creation of two more puisne justice positions in 1949.^[3]

The justices are appointed by the Governor-in-Council (Governor General of Canada on the advice of the Cabinet). The first six justices of the Court were all appointed in 1875 by the then Governor General of Canada, the Earl of Dufferin, on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie.

Of the nine justices, three positions are required by law to be held by judges who are either judges of the superior courts of Quebec, or members of the Bar of Quebec, at the time of their appointment.^[4][5] Traditionally, three of the remaining judges are appointed from Ontario, two from the four western provinces, and one from the Atlantic provinces. The judges from these provinces, other than Quebec, must have been a judge of a superior court, or a member of the bar of one of those provinces for ten or more years prior to the appointment.^[6] A Supreme Court justice, as with all federal judges, has guaranteed tenure during good behaviour, and may sit on the bench until the age of 75 years.^[7] Beverley McLachlin is the current Chief Justice and is the first woman to hold this position.^[8]

In this list, justices are placed in the order in which they took the judicial oath of office and thereby started their term of office. While many of the justices' positions prior to appointment are simply listed as "lawyer", many had part-time positions, such as teaching, or acted as counsel to various levels of government.

Justices

     † Denotes current justices

No.	Name	Province	Term of active service	Term of service as Chief Justice	Length of active service	Length in days as Chief Justice	Appointed on advice of	Legal education	Position prior to appointment
1	Sir William Buell Richards (1815–1889)	Ontario	September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879	September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879	1,199	1,199	Mackenzie (directly as Chief Justice)	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1837)	Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Canada West
2	William Johnstone Ritchie (1813–1892)	New Brunswick	September 30, 1875 – September 25, 1892	January 11, 1879 – September 25, 1892	6,206	5,007	Mackenzie (as puisne justice); Macdonald (as Chief Justice)	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1837)	Chief Justice of New Brunswick
3	Samuel Henry Strong (1825–1909)	Ontario	September 30, 1875 – November 18, 1902	December 13, 1892 – November 18, 1902	9,911	3,627	Mackenzie (as puisne justice); Thompson (as Chief Justice)	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1849)	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
4	Jean-Thomas Taschereau (1814–1893)	Quebec	September 30, 1875 – October 6, 1878	—	1,103	—	Mackenzie	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer; École de droit de Paris (1837)	Court of Queen's Bench of Quebec
5	Télesphore Fournier (1823–1896)	Quebec	September 30, 1875 – September 12, 1895	—	7,288	—	Mackenzie	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1846)	Postmaster General
6	William Alexander Henry (1816–1888)	Nova Scotia	September 30, 1875 – May 3, 1888	—	4,600	—	Mackenzie	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1841)	Lawyer
7	Sir Henri-Elzéar Taschereau (1836–1911)	Quebec	October 7, 1878 – May 2, 1906	November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906	10,069	1,259	Mackenzie (as puisne justice); Laurier (as Chief Justice)	—	Quebec Superior Court
8	John Wellington Gwynne (1814–1902)	Ontario	January 14, 1879 – January 7, 1902	—	8,394	—	Macdonald	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1837)	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
9	Christopher Salmon Patterson (1823–1893)	Ontario	October 27, 1888 – July 24, 1893	—	1,732	—	Macdonald	—	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
10	Robert Sedgewick (1848–1906)	Nova Scotia	February 18, 1893 – August 4, 1906	—	4,915	—	Thompson	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1872)	Deputy Minister of Justice (Federal)
11	George Edwin King (1839–1901)	New Brunswick	September 21, 1893 – May 8, 1901	—	2,786	—	Thompson	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1865)	Supreme Court of New Brunswick
12	Désiré Girouard (1836–1911)	Quebec	September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911	—	5,654	—	Bowell	McGill Law School (1860)	Member of Parliament for Jacques Cartier
13	Sir Louis Henry Davies (1845–1924)	Prince Edward Island	September 25, 1901 – May 1, 1924	November 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924	8,255	1,987	Laurier (as puisne justice); Borden (as Chief Justice)	Inner Temple, London (1866)	Member of Parliament for West Queen's
14	David Mills (1831–1903)	Ontario	February 8, 1902 – May 8, 1903	—	455	—	Laurier	University of Michigan (1867)	Minister of Justice (Canada) and Leader of the Government in the Senate
15	John Douglas Armour (1830–1903)	Ontario	November 21, 1902 – July 11, 1903	—	233	—	Laurier	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1853)	Chief Justice of Ontario
16	Wallace Nesbitt (1858–1930)	Ontario	May 16, 1903 – October 4, 1905	—	873	—	Laurier	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1881)	Lawyer
17	Albert Clements Killam (1849–1908)	Manitoba	August 8, 1903 – February 6, 1905	—	549	—	Laurier	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1877)	Chief Justice of Manitoba
18	John Idington (1840–1928)	Ontario	February 10, 1905 – March 31, 1927	—	8,085	—	Laurier	University of Toronto (1864)	High Court of Justice of Ontario
19	James Maclennan (1833–1915)	Ontario	October 5, 1905 – February 13, 1909	—	1,228	—	Laurier	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1857)	Court of Appeal for Ontario
20	Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (1853–1942)	Quebec	June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918	June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918	4,554	4,554	Laurier (directly as Chief Justice)	Université Laval, Faculté de droit (1876)	Minister of Justice (Canada)
21	Sir Lyman Poore Duff (1865–1955)	British Columbia	September 27, 1906 – January 2, 1944	March 17, 1933 – January 2, 1944	13,617	3,949	Laurier (as puisne justice); Bennett (as Chief Justice)	University of Toronto Faculty of Law (1889)	Supreme Court of British Columbia
22	Francis Alexander Anglin (1865–1933)	Ontario	February 23, 1909 – February 28, 1933	September 16, 1924 – February 28, 1933	8,772	3,088	Laurier (as puisne justice); King (as Chief Justice)	The Law Society of Upper Canada (1888)	High Court of Justice of Ontario (Exchequer Division)
23	Louis-Philippe Brodeur (1862–1924)	Quebec	August 11, 1911 – October 10, 1923	—	4,444	—	Laurier	Université Laval à Montréal, Faculté de droit (1884)	Minister of the Naval Service
24	Pierre-Basile Mignault (1854–1945)	Quebec	October 25, 1918 – September 30, 1929	—	3,994	—	Borden	McGill Law School (1878)	Member of the International Joint Commission
25	Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin (1857–1936)	Quebec	January 30, 1924 – October 1, 1924	—	246	—	King	Université Laval, Faculté de droit (1882)	Quebec Superior Court
26	Edmund Leslie Newcombe (1859–1931)	Nova Scotia	September 16, 1924 – December 9, 1931	—	2,641	—	King	University of Halifax (1881)	Deputy Minister of Justice (federal)
27	Thibaudeau Rinfret (1879–1962)	Quebec	October 1, 1924 – June 22, 1954	January 8, 1944 – June 22, 1954	10,857	3,819	King (as both puisne justice and later as Chief Justice)	Université Laval à Montréal and McGill Law School (1900)	Quebec Superior Court
28	John Henderson Lamont (1865–1936)	Saskatchewan	April 2, 1927 – March 10, 1936	—	3,266	—	King	University of Toronto Faculty of Law (1893)	Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
29	Robert Smith (1858–1942)	Ontario	May 18, 1927 – December 7, 1933	—	2,396	—	King	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1885)	Supreme Court of Ontario (Appellate Division)
30	Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (1877–1939)	Quebec	January 14, 1930 – December 25, 1939	—	3,633	—	King	Université Laval, Faculté de droit (1899)	Court of King's Bench for Quebec
31	Oswald Smith Crocket (1868–1945)	New Brunswick	September 21, 1932 – April 13, 1943	—	3,857	—	Bennett	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1892)	Supreme Court of New Brunswick
32	Frank Joseph Hughes (1883–1967)	Ontario	March 17, 1933 – February 13, 1935	—	699	—	Bennett	Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1911)	Lawyer
33	Henry Hague Davis (1885–1944)	Ontario	January 31, 1935 – June 30, 1944	—	3,439	—	Bennett	University of Toronto Faculty of Law (1911)	Court of Appeal for Ontario
34	Patrick Kerwin (1889–1963)	Ontario	July 20, 1935 – February 2, 1963	July 1, 1954 – February 2, 1963	10,060	3,139	Bennett (as puisne justice); St. Laurent (as Chief Justice)	Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1911)	High Court of Justice of Ontario
35	Albert Blellock Hudson (1875–1947)	Manitoba	March 24, 1936 – January 6, 1947	—	3,941	—	King	University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law (1898)	Lawyer
36	Robert Taschereau (1896–1970)	Quebec	February 9, 1940 – September 1, 1967	April 22, 1963 – September 1, 1967	10,067	1,549	King (as puisne justice); Diefenbaker (as Chief Justice)	Université Laval, Faculté de droit) (1920)	Lawyer
37	Ivan Cleveland Rand (1884–1969)	New Brunswick	April 22, 1943 – April 27, 1959	—	5,850	—	King	Harvard Law School (1912)	Lawyer
38	Roy Lindsay Kellock (1893–1975)	Ontario	October 3, 1944 – January 15, 1958	—	4,853	—	King	—	Court of Appeal for Ontario
39	James Wilfred Estey (1889–1956)	Saskatchewan	October 6, 1944 – January 22, 1956	—	4,126	—	King	Harvard Law School (1915)	Attorney General of Saskatchewan
40	Charles Holland Locke (1887–1980)	British Columbia	June 3, 1947 – September 16, 1962	—	5,585	—	King	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (1910)	Lawyer
41	John Robert Cartwright (1895–1979)	Ontario	December 22, 1949 – March 23, 1970	September 1, 1967 – March 23, 1970	7,397	935	St. Laurent (as puisne justice); Pearson (as Chief Justice)	Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1920)	Lawyer
42	Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux (1900–1980)	Quebec	December 22, 1949 – December 23, 1973	March 23, 1970 – December 23, 1973	8,768	1,372	St. Laurent (as puisne justice); P. Trudeau (as Chief Justice)	Université de Montréal Faculty of Law (1925)	Quebec Superior Court
43	Douglas Charles Abbott (1899–1987)	Quebec	July 1, 1954 – December 23, 1973	—	7,116	—	St. Laurent	McGill Law School	Minister of Finance (federal)
44	Henry Grattan Nolan (1893–1957)	Alberta	March 1, 1956 – July 8, 1957	—	495	—	St. Laurent	Articles of clerkship with a senior lawyer (English and Alberta bars)	Lawyer
45	Ronald Martland (1909–1997)	Alberta	January 15, 1958 – February 10, 1982	—	8,793	—	Diefenbaker	University of Alberta, University of Oxford (1928, 1931)	Lawyer
46	Wilfred Judson (1902–1980)	Ontario	February 5, 1958 – July 20, 1977	—	7,106	—	Diefenbaker	Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1932)	High Court of Justice of Ontario
47	Roland Almon Ritchie (1910–1988)	Nova Scotia	May 5, 1959 – October 31, 1984	—	9,312	—	Diefenbaker	University of Oxford (1932)	Lawyer
48	Emmett Matthew Hall (1898–1995)	Saskatchewan	November 23, 1962 – March 1, 1973	—	3,752	—	Diefenbaker	University of Saskatchewan College of Law (1919)	Chief Justice of Saskatchewan, Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
49	Wishart Flett Spence (1904–1998)	Ontario	May 30, 1963 – December 29, 1978	—	5,693	—	Pearson	Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1928)	High Court of Justice of Ontario
50	Louis-Philippe Pigeon (1905–1986)	Quebec	September 21, 1967 – February 8, 1980	—	4,524	—	Pearson	Université Laval, Faculté de droit (1928)	Lawyer
51	Bora Laskin (1912–1984)	Ontario	March 23, 1970 – March 26, 1984	December 27, 1973 – March 26, 1984	5,118	3,739	P. Trudeau (as both puisne justice and later as Chief Justice)	University of Toronto (1936) Harvard Law School (1937) Osgoode Hall Law School (Law Society of Upper Canada) (1937)	Court of Appeal for Ontario
52	Robert George Brian Dickson (1916–1998)	Manitoba	March 26, 1973 – June 30, 1990	April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990	6,306	2,265	P. Trudeau (as both puisne justice and later as Chief Justice)	University of Manitoba Faculty of Law (1938)	Manitoba Court of Appeal
53	Jean Beetz (1927–1991)	Quebec	January 1, 1974 – November 10, 1988	—	5,428	—	P. Trudeau	Université de Montréal Faculty of Law (1950) Pembroke College, Oxford (1953)	Quebec Court of Appeal
54	Louis-Philippe de Grandpré (1917–2008)	Quebec	January 1, 1974 – October 1, 1977	—	1,370	—	P. Trudeau	McGill University Faculty of Law	President of the Canadian Bar Association
55	Willard Zebedee Estey (1919–2002)	Ontario	September 29, 1977 – April 22, 1988	—	3,859	—	P. Trudeau	University of Saskatchewan College of Law	Chief Justice of Ontario
56	Yves Pratte (1925–1988)	Quebec	October 1, 1977 – June 30, 1979	—	638	—	P. Trudeau	Université Laval (Faculté de droit (Université Laval)) and University of Toronto	Chairman of Air Canada
57	William Rogers McIntyre (1918–2009)	British Columbia	January 1, 1979 – February 15, 1989	—	3,699	—	P. Trudeau	University of Saskatchewan	British Columbia Court of Appeal
58	Julien Chouinard (1929–1987)	Quebec	September 24, 1979 – February 6, 1987	—	2,693	—	Clark	Université Laval	Quebec Court of Appeal
59	Antonio Lamer (1933–2007)	Quebec	March 28, 1980 – January 6, 2000	July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000	7,224	3,477	P. Trudeau (as puisne justice); Mulroney (as Chief Justice)	Université de Montréal	Quebec Court of Appeal
60	Bertha Wilson (1923–2007)	Ontario	March 4, 1982 – January 4, 1991	—	3,229	—	P. Trudeau	Dalhousie Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
61	Gerald Eric Le Dain (1924–2007)	Ontario	May 29, 1984 – November 30, 1988	—	1,647	—	P. Trudeau	McGill University Faculty of Law	Federal Court of Appeal
62	Gérard La Forest (b. 1926)	New Brunswick	January 16, 1985 – September 30, 1997	—	4,641	—	Mulroney	University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law and Yale Law School	New Brunswick Court of Appeal
63	Claire L'Heureux-Dubé (b. 1927)	Quebec	April 15, 1987 – July 1, 2002	—	5,557	—	Mulroney	Université Laval (Faculté de droit (Université Laval))	Quebec Court of Appeal
64	John Sopinka (1933–1997)	Ontario	May 24, 1988 – November 24, 1997	—	3,472	—	Mulroney	University of Toronto	Lawyer
65	Charles Gonthier (1928–2009)	Quebec	February 1, 1989 – August 1, 2003	—	5,295	—	Mulroney	McGill University Faculty of Law	Quebec Court of Appeal
66	Peter Cory (b. 1925)	Ontario	February 1, 1989 – June 1, 1999	—	3,773	—	Mulroney	Osgoode Hall Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
67	Beverley McLachlin† (b. 1943)	British Columbia	March 30, 1989 – present	January 7, 2000 – present	9,846[9]	5,911[9]	Mulroney (as puisne justice); Chrétien (as Chief Justice)	University of Alberta Faculty of Law	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
68	William Stevenson (b. 1934)	Alberta	September 17, 1990 – June 5, 1992	—	628	—	Mulroney	University of Alberta Faculty of Law	Court of Appeal of Alberta Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories
69	Frank Iacobucci (b. 1937)	Ontario	January 7, 1991 – June 30, 2004	—	4,924	—	Mulroney	University of British Columbia and Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge	Chief Justice of the Federal Court
70	John C. Major (b. 1931)	Alberta	November 13, 1992 – December 25, 2005	—	4,791	—	Mulroney	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal of Alberta
71	Michel Bastarache (b. 1947)	New Brunswick	September 30, 1997 – June 30, 2008	—	3,926	—	Chrétien	University of Ottawa Faculty of Law	New Brunswick Court of Appeal
72	William Ian Corneil Binnie (b. 1939)	Ontario	January 8, 1998 – October 21, 2011	—	5,034	—	Chrétien	Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge University of Toronto	Lawyer
73	Louise Arbour (b. 1947)	Ontario	September 15, 1999 – June 30, 2004	—	1,751	—	Chrétien	Université de Montréal Faculty of Law University of Ottawa Faculty of Law	Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda
74	Louis LeBel (b. 1939)	Quebec	January 7, 2000 – November 30, 2014	—	5,442	—	Chrétien	Université Laval University of Toronto	Quebec Court of Appeal
75	Marie Deschamps (b. 1952)	Quebec	August 7, 2002 – August 7, 2012	—	3,653	—	Chrétien	Université de Montréal	Quebec Court of Appeal
76	Morris J. Fish (b. 1938)	Quebec	August 5, 2003 – August 31, 2013	—	3,680	—	Chrétien	McGill University Faculty of Law	Quebec Court of Appeal
77	Rosalie Abella† (b. 1946)	Ontario	October 4, 2004 – present	—	4,179[9]	—	Martin	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal for Ontario
78	Louise Charron (b. 1951)	Ontario	October 4, 2004 – August 30, 2011	—	2,521	—	Martin	University of Ottawa Faculty of Law	Court of Appeal for Ontario
79	Marshall Rothstein (b. 1940)	Manitoba	March 1, 2006 – August 31, 2015	—	3,470	—	Harper	University of Manitoba	Federal Court of Appeal
80	Thomas Cromwell† (b. 1952)	Nova Scotia	December 22, 2008 – present	—	2,639[9]	—	Harper	Queen's University Faculty of Law University of Oxford	Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
81	Michael J. Moldaver† (b. 1948)	Ontario	October 21, 2011 – present	—	1,606[9]	—	Harper	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal for Ontario
82	Andromache Karakatsanis† (b. 1955)	Ontario	October 21, 2011 – present	—	1,606[9]	—	Harper	Osgoode Hall Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
83	Richard Wagner† (b. 1957)	Quebec	October 5, 2012 – present	—	1,256[9]	—	Harper	University of Ottawa Faculty of Law	Quebec Court of Appeal
84	Clément Gascon† (b. 1960)	Quebec	June 9, 2014 – present	—	644[9]	—	Harper	McGill University Faculty of Law	Quebec Court of Appeal
85	Suzanne Côté† (b. 1958)	Quebec	December 1, 2014 – present	—	469[9]	—	Harper	Laval University	Lawyer
86	Russell Brown† (b. 1965)	Alberta	August 31, 2015 – present	—	196[9]	—	Harper	University of Victoria University of Toronto	Court of Appeal of Alberta

List of current justices by mandatory retirement date

When the Supreme Court was created, the justices of the Court had life tenure, meaning they could sit on the Court until they either retired or died. In 1927, a mandatory retirement age of 75 was introduced.^[10] The retirement age applied to any judge who was already over age 75, which meant that Justice Idington, aged 86, was forced to retire on the day the amendment came into force, March 31, 1927.

The mandatory retirement age is still set at 75 by the Supreme Court Act.^[7] Justices can retire from the Court prior to the mandatory retirement date.

In this list, "Seniority" is based on the date of appointment to the Court.

Seniority	Justice	Birth date	Current Age	Mandatory Retirement Date
1	Beverley McLachlin	September 7, 1943	72	September 7, 2018
2	Rosalie Abella	July 1, 1946	69	July 1, 2021
3	Thomas Cromwell	May 5, 1952	63	May 5, 2027
4	Michael Moldaver	December 23, 1947	68	December 23, 2022
5	Andromache Karakatsanis	October 3, 1955	60	October 3, 2030
6	Richard Wagner	April 2, 1957	58	April 2, 2032
7	Clément Gascon	September 5, 1960	55	September 5, 2035
8	Suzanne Côté	September 21, 1958	57	September 21, 2033
9	Russell Brown	September 15, 1965	50	September 15, 2040

See also

• List of Chief Justices of Canada
• List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by court composition

References

1. Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, S.C. 1875, c. 11.
2. An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act, S.C. 1927, c. 38, s. 1
3. An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act, S.C. 1949, c. 37, s.1
4. Supreme Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S‑26, s. 6.
5. Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, 2014 SCC 21.
6. Supreme Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S-26, s. 5.
7. Supreme Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S-26, s. 9.
8. Peter McCormick (2000). Supreme at Last: The Evolution of the Supreme Court of Canada. James Lorimer & Company. p. 154. ISBN 1550286927.
9. Current to most recent page update.
10. An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act, S.C. 1927, c. 38, s. 2.

Bibliography

• James G. Snell; Frederick Vaughan (1985). The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802034179.
• Peter McCormick (2000). Supreme at Last: The Evolution of the Supreme Court of Canada. James Lorimer & Company. ISBN 1550286927.
• Donald R. Songer (2008). The Transformation of the Supreme Court of Canada: An Empirical Examination. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802096891.

Further reading

• Government of Canada. "Current and Former Puisne Judges". Judges of the Court. Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
• Government of Canada. "Current and Former Chief Justices". Judges of the Court. Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2012.