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.

Formed in 1875 by Governor General of Canada The Earl of Dufferin, on the advice of his Canadian Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, the Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and, since 1949, has been the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. The court is composed of nine judges: eight Puisne Justices and the Chief Justice of Canada. Three of the nine positions must be held by judges who are members of the Bar of Quebec. Traditionally, three of the judges are appointed from Ontario, two from the four western provinces, and one from the Atlantic provinces. Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Cabinet. To be eligible for a justice position, one must have been a judge of a superior court, or a member of the bar for ten or more years. A Supreme Court justice, as with all federal judges, may sit on the bench only until the age of 75 years. Beverley McLachlin is the current Chief Justice and is the first woman to hold this position.

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	Birth/death	Term of active service	Term of service as Chief	Length of active service	Length in days as Chief	Appointed on advice of	Law school	Position prior to appointment
1	Sir William Buell Richards	Ontario	1815–89	September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879	September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879	1,199	1,199	Mackenzie	—	Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Canada West
2	William Johnstone Ritchie	New Brunswick	1813–92	September 30, 1875 – September 25, 1892	January 11, 1879 – September 25, 1892	6,206	5,007	Mackenzie	—	Chief Justice of New Brunswick
3	Samuel Henry Strong	Ontario	1825–1909	September 30, 1875 – November 18, 1902	December 13, 1892 – November 18, 1902	9,911	3,627	Mackenzie	—	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
4	Jean-Thomas Taschereau	Quebec	1814–93	September 30, 1875 – October 6, 1878	—	1,103	—	Mackenzie	—	Court of Queen's Bench of Quebec
5	Télesphore Fournier	Quebec	1823–96	September 30, 1875 – September 12, 1895	—	7,288	—	Mackenzie	—	Postmaster General
6	William Alexander Henry	Nova Scotia	1816–88	September 30, 1875 – May 3, 1888	—	4,600	—	Mackenzie	—	Lawyer
7	Sir Henri-Elzéar Taschereau	Quebec	1836–1911	October 7, 1878 – May 2, 1906	November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906	10,069	1,259	Mackenzie	—	Quebec Superior Court
8	John Wellington Gwynne	Ontario	1814–1902	January 14, 1879 – January 7, 1902	—	8,394	—	Macdonald	—	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
9	Christopher Salmon Patterson	Ontario	1823–93	October 27, 1888 – July 24, 1893	—	1,732	—	Macdonald	—	Ontario Court of Error & Appeal
10	Robert Sedgewick	Nova Scotia	1848–1906	February 18, 1893 – August 4, 1906	—	4,915	—	Thompson	—	Deputy Minister of Justice
11	George Edwin King	New Brunswick	1839–1901	September 21, 1893 – May 8, 1901	—	2,786	—	Thompson	—	Supreme Court of New Brunswick
12	Désiré Girouard	Quebec	1836–1911	September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911	—	5,654	—	Bowell	—	Member of Parliament for Jacques Cartier
13	Sir Louis Henry Davies	Prince Edward Island	1845–1924	September 25, 1901 – May 1, 1924	November 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924	8,255	1,987	Laurier	—	Member of Parliament for West Queen's
14	David Mills	Ontario	1831–1903	February 8, 1902 – May 8, 1903	—	455	—	Laurier	—	Minister of Justice Leader of the Government in the Senate
15	John Douglas Armour	Ontario	1830–1903	November 21, 1902 – July 11, 1903	—	233	—	Laurier	—	Chief Justice of Ontario
16	Wallace Nesbitt	Ontario	1858–1930	May 16, 1903 – October 4, 1905	—	873	—	Laurier	—	Lawyer
17	Albert Clements Killam	Manitoba	1849–1908	August 8, 1903 – February 6, 1905	—	549	—	Laurier	—	Chief Justice of Manitoba
18	John Idington	Ontario	1840–1928	February 10, 1905 – March 31, 1927	—	8,085	—	Laurier	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario
19	James Maclennan	Ontario	1833–1915	October 5, 1905 – February 13, 1909	—	1,228	—	Laurier	—	Court of Appeal for Ontario
20	Sir Charles Fitzpatrick	Quebec	1853–1942	June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918	June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918	4,554	4,554	Laurier	—	Minister of Justice
21	Lyman Poore Duff	British Columbia	1865–1955	September 27, 1906 – January 2, 1944	March 17, 1933 – January 2, 1944	13,617	3,949	Laurier	—	Supreme Court of British Columbia
22	Francis Alexander Anglin	Ontario	1865–1933	February 23, 1909 – February 28, 1933	September 16, 1924 – February 28, 1933	8,772	3,088	Laurier	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario (Exchequer Division)
23	Louis-Philippe Brodeur	Quebec	1862–1924	August 11, 1911 – October 10, 1923	—	4,444	—	Laurier	—	Minister of the Naval Service
24	Pierre-Basile Mignault	Quebec	1854–1945	October 25, 1918 – September 30, 1929	—	3,994	—	Borden	—	Member of the International Joint Commission
25	Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin	Quebec	1857–1936	January 30, 1924 – October 1, 1924	—	246	—	King	—	Quebec Superior Court
26	Edmund Leslie Newcombe	Nova Scotia	1859–1931	September 16, 1924 – December 9, 1931	—	2,641	—	King	—	Deputy Minister of Justice
27	Thibaudeau Rinfret	Quebec	1879–1962	October 1, 1924 – June 22, 1954	January 8, 1944 – June 22, 1954	10,857	3,819	King	—	Quebec Superior Court
28	John Henderson Lamont	Saskatchewan	1865–1936	April 2, 1927 – March 10, 1936	—	3,266	—	King	—	Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
29	Robert Smith	Ontario	1858–1942	May 18, 1927 – December 7, 1933	—	2,396	—	King	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario (Appellate Division)
30	Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon	Quebec	1877–1939	January 14, 1930 – December 25, 1939	—	3,633	—	King	—	Court of King's Bench for Quebec
31	Oswald Smith Crocket	New Brunswick	1868–1945	September 21, 1932 – April 13, 1943	—	3,857	—	Bennett	—	Supreme Court of New Brunswick
32	Frank Joseph Hughes	Ontario	1883–1967	March 17, 1933 – February 13, 1935	—	699	—	Bennett	—	Lawyer
33	Henry Hague Davis	Ontario	1885–1944	January 31, 1935 – June 30, 1944	—	3,439	—	Bennett	—	Court of Appeal for Ontario
34	Patrick Kerwin	Ontario	1889–1963	July 20, 1935 – February 2, 1963	July 1, 1954 – February 2, 1963	10,060	3,139	Bennett	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario
35	Albert Blellock Hudson	Manitoba	1875–1947	March 24, 1936 – January 6, 1947	—	3,941	—	King	—	Lawyer
36	Robert Taschereau	Quebec	1896–1970	February 9, 1940 – September 1, 1967	April 22, 1963 – September 1, 1967	10,067	1,549	King	—	Lawyer
37	Ivan Cleveland Rand	New Brunswick	1884–1969	April 22, 1943 – April 27, 1959	—	5,850	—	King	—	Lawyer
38	Roy Lindsay Kellock	Ontario	1893–1975	October 3, 1944 – January 15, 1958	—	4,853	—	King	—	Court of Appeal for Ontario
39	James Wilfred Estey	Saskatchewan	1889–1956	October 6, 1944 – January 22, 1956	—	4,126	—	King	—	Attorney General of Saskatchewan
40	Charles Holland Locke	British Columbia	1887–1980	June 3, 1947 – September 16, 1962	—	5,585	—	King	—	Lawyer
41	John Robert Cartwright	Ontario	1895–1979	December 22, 1949 – March 23, 1970	September 1, 1967 – March 23, 1970	7,397	935	St. Laurent	—	Lawyer
42	Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux	Quebec	1900–80	December 22, 1949 – December 23, 1973	March 23, 1970 – December 23, 1973	8,768	1,372	St. Laurent	—	Quebec Superior Court
43	Douglas Charles Abbott	Quebec	1899–1987	July 1, 1954 – December 23, 1973	—	7,116	—	St. Laurent	—	Minister of Finance
44	Henry Grattan Nolan	Alberta	1893–1957	March 1, 1956 – July 8, 1957	—	495	—	St. Laurent	—	Lawyer
45	Ronald Martland	Alberta	1909–97	January 15, 1958 – February 10, 1982	—	8,793	—	Diefenbaker	—	Lawyer
46	Wilfred Judson	Ontario	1902–80	February 5, 1958 – July 20, 1977	—	7,106	—	Diefenbaker	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario
47	Roland Almon Ritchie	Nova Scotia	1910–88	May 5, 1959 – October 31, 1984	—	9,312	—	Diefenbaker	—	Lawyer
48	Emmett Matthew Hall	Saskatchewan	1898–1995	November 23, 1962 – March 1, 1973	—	3,752	—	Diefenbaker	—	Chief Justice of Saskatchewan
49	Wishart Flett Spence	Ontario	1904–98	May 30, 1963 – December 29, 1978	—	5,693	—	Pearson	—	High Court of Justice of Ontario
50	Louis-Philippe Pigeon	Quebec	1905–86	September 21, 1967 – February 8, 1980	—	4,524	—	Pearson	—	Lawyer
51	Bora Laskin	Ontario	1912–84	March 19, 1970 – March 26, 1984	December 27, 1973 – March 26, 1984	5,122	3,743	Trudeau	Osgoode Hall Law School and Harvard Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
52	Robert George Brian Dickson	Manitoba	1916–98	March 26, 1973 – June 30, 1990	April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990	6,306	2,265	Trudeau	University of Manitoba	Manitoba Court of Appeal
53	Jean Beetz	Quebec	1927–91	January 1, 1974 – November 10, 1988	—	5,428	—	Trudeau	Université de Montréal	Quebec Court of Appeal
54	Louis-Philippe de Grandpré	Quebec	1917–2008	January 1, 1974 – October 1, 1977	—	1,370	—	Trudeau	McGill University	President of the Canadian Bar Association
55	Willard Zebedee Estey	Ontario	1919–2002	September 29, 1977 – April 22, 1988	—	3,859	—	Trudeau	University of Saskatchewan	Chief Justice of Ontario
56	Yves Pratte	Quebec	1925–88	October 1, 1977 – June 30, 1979	—	638	—	Trudeau	Université Laval and University of Toronto	Chairman of Air Canada
57	William Rogers McIntyre	British Columbia	1918–2009	January 1, 1979 – February 15, 1989	—	3,699	—	Trudeau	University of Saskatchewan	British Columbia Court of Appeal
58	Julien Chouinard	Quebec	1929–87	September 24, 1979 – February 6, 1987	—	2,693	—	Clark	Université Laval	Quebec Court of Appeal
59	Antonio Lamer	Quebec	1933–2007	March 28, 1980 – January 6, 2000	July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000	7,224	3,477	Trudeau	Université de Montréal	Quebec Court of Appeal
60	Bertha Wilson	Ontario	1923–2007	March 4, 1982 – January 4, 1991	—	3,229	—	Trudeau	Dalhousie University	Court of Appeal for Ontario
61	Gerald Eric Le Dain	Ontario	1924–2007	May 29, 1984 – November 30, 1988	—	1,647	—	Trudeau	McGill University	Federal Court of Appeal
62	Gérard La Forest	New Brunswick	1926 –	January 16, 1985 – September 30, 1997	—	4,641	—	Mulroney	University of New Brunswick and Yale University	New Brunswick Court of Appeal
63	Claire L'Heureux-Dubé	Quebec	1927 –	April 15, 1987 – July 1, 2002	—	5,557	—	Mulroney	Université Laval	Quebec Court of Appeal
64	John Sopinka	Saskatchewan	1933–97	May 24, 1988 – November 24, 1997	—	3,472	—	Mulroney	University of Toronto	Lawyer
65	Charles Gonthier	Quebec	1928–2009	February 1, 1989 – August 1, 2003	—	5,295	—	Mulroney	McGill University	Quebec Court of Appeal
66	Peter Cory	Ontario	1925 –	February 1, 1989 – June 1, 1999	—	3,773	—	Mulroney	Osgoode Hall Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
67	Beverley McLachlin†	British Columbia	1943 –	March 30, 1989 – present	January 7, 2000 – present	8,800	4,865	Mulroney	University of Alberta	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
68	William Stevenson	Alberta	1934 –	September 17, 1990 – June 5, 1992	—	628	—	Mulroney	University of Alberta	Court of Appeal of Alberta Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories
69	Frank Iacobucci	Ontario	1937 –	January 7, 1991 – June 30, 2004	—	4,924	—	Mulroney	University of British Columbia and Cambridge University	Chief Justice of the Federal Court
70	John C. Major	Alberta	1931 –	November 13, 1992 – December 25, 2005	—	4,791	—	Mulroney	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal of Alberta
71	Michel Bastarache	New Brunswick	1947 –	September 30, 1997 – June 30, 2008	—	3,926	—	Chrétien	University of Ottawa	New Brunswick Court of Appeal
72	William Ian Corneil Binnie	Ontario	1939 –	January 8, 1998 – October 21, 2011	—	5,034	—	Chrétien	Cambridge University University of Toronto	Lawyer
73	Louise Arbour	Ontario	1947 –	September 15, 1999 – June 30, 2004	—	1,751	—	Chrétien	University of Ottawa	Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda
74	Louis LeBel†	Quebec	1939 –	January 7, 2000 – present	—	4,865	—	Chrétien	Université Laval University of Toronto	Quebec Court of Appeal
75	Marie Deschamps	Quebec	1952 –	August 7, 2002 – August 7, 2012	—	3,922	—	Chrétien	Université de Montréal	Quebec Court of Appeal
76	Morris J. Fish†	Quebec	1938 –	August 5, 2003 – present	—	3,559	—	Chrétien	McGill University	Quebec Court of Appeal
77	Rosalie Abella†	Ontario	1946 –	October 4, 2004 – present	—	3,133	—	Martin	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal for Ontario
78	Louise Charron	Ontario	1951 –	October 4, 2004 – August 30, 2011	—	2,521	—	Martin	University of Ottawa	Court of Appeal for Ontario
79	Marshall Rothstein†	Manitoba	1940 –	March 1, 2006 – present	—	2,620	—	Harper	University of Manitoba	Federal Court of Appeal
80	Thomas Cromwell†	Nova Scotia	1952 –	December 22, 2008 – present	—	1,593	—	Harper	Queen's University University of Oxford	Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
81	Michael J. Moldaver†	Ontario	1948 –	October 21, 2011 – present	—	560	-	Harper	University of Toronto	Court of Appeal for Ontario
82	Andromache Karakatsanis†	Ontario	1955 –	October 21, 2011 – present	—	560	-	Harper	Osgoode Hall Law School	Court of Appeal for Ontario
83	Richard Wagner†	Quebec	1957 –	October 5, 2012 – present	—	210	-	Harper	University of Ottawa	Quebec Court of Appeal

See also

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

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.