List of Chief Justices of Canada by time in office

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jack Cox (talk | contribs) at 09:04, 15 December 2017 (→‎Chief Justices of Canada). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This is a list of Canadian Chief Justices. It can be sorted by time in office or length of retirement. For living Chief Justices, the values are calculated to May 27, 2024.

Chief Justices of Canada

Rank by
length
of term 		Chief Justice
 Appointed
by 		Date of
appointment 		Date of
retirement 		Length of
term 		Length of
retirement 		Date of death
 Order
by Date
1 McLachlin, BeverleyBeverley McLachlin Chretien, JeanChrétien January 7, 2000 (2000-01-07) December 15, 2017 (2017-12-15) 6552}}6,552 days 2355}}2,355 days 2024-05-27 17
2 Ritchie, WilliamWilliam J. Ritchie Macdonald, JohnMacdonald January 11, 1879 (1879-01-11) September 25, 1892 (1892-09-25) 50065,006 days 0,000N/A[1] 1892-09-25(1892-09-25)September 25, 1892 2
3 Fitzpatrick, CharlesCharles Fitzpatrick Laurier, WilfridLaurier June 4, 1906 (1906-06-04) October 21, 1918 (1918-10-21) 4,5224,522 days 8,6408,640 days 1942-06-17(1942-06-17)June 17, 1942 5
4 Duff, LymanLyman Duff Bennett, RichardBennett March 17, 1933 (1933-03-17) January 7, 1944 (1944-01-07) 3,9483,948 days 4,1274,127 days 1955-04-26(1955-04-26)April 26, 1955 8
5 Rinfret, ThibaudeauThibaudeau Rinfret King, WilliamKing January 8, 1944 (1944-01-08) June 22, 1954 (1954-06-22) 3,8183,818 days 2,9552,955 days 1962-07-25(1962-07-25)July 25, 1962 9
6 Laskin, BoraBora Laskin Trudeau, PierreP. Trudeau December 27, 1973 (1973-12-27) March 26, 1984 (1984-03-26) 3,7423,742 days 0,000N/A[1] 1984-03-26(1984-03-26)March 26, 1984 14
7 Strong, SamuelSamuel H. Strong Thompson, JohnThompson December 13, 1892 (1892-12-13) November 18, 1902 (1902-11-18) 3,6263,626 days 2,4782,478 days 1909-08-31(1909-08-31)August 31, 1909 3
8 Lamer, AntonioAntonio Lamer Mulroney, BrianMulroney July 1, 1990 (1990-07-01) January 6, 2000 (2000-01-06) 3,4763,476 days 2,8792,879 days 2007-11-24(2007-11-24)November 24, 2007 16
9 Kerwin, PatrickPatrick Kerwin St. Laurent, LouisSt. Laurent July 1, 1954 (1954-07-01) February 2, 1963 (1963-02-02) 3,1383,138 days 0,000N/A[1] 1963-02-02(1963-02-02)February 2, 1963 10
10 Anglin, FrancisFrancis A. Anglin King, WilliamKing September 16, 1924 (1924-09-16) February 28, 1933 (1933-02-28) 3,0873,087 days 0,0022 days 1933-03-02(1933-03-02)March 2, 1933 7
11 Dickson, BrianBrian Dickson Trudeau, PierreP. Trudeau April 18, 1984 (1984-04-18) June 30, 1990 (1990-06-30) 2,2642,264 days 3,0313,031 days 1998-10-17(1998-10-17)October 17, 1998 15
12 Davies, LouisLouis H. Davies Borden, RobertBorden October 23, 1918 (1918-10-23) May 1, 1924 (1924-05-01) 2,0172,017 days 0,000N/A[1] 1924-05-01(1924-05-01)May 1, 1924 6
13 Taschereau, RobertRobert Taschereau Pearson, LesterPearson April 22, 1963 (1963-04-22) September 1, 1967 (1967-09-01) 1,5931,593 days 1,0591,059 days 1970-07-26(1970-07-26)July 26, 1970 11
14 Fauteux, GeraldGérald Fauteux Trudeau, PierreP. Trudeau March 23, 1970 (1970-03-23) December 23, 1973 (1973-12-23) 1,3711,371 days 2,4572,457 days 1980-09-14(1980-09-14)September 14, 1980 13
15 Taschereau, HenriHenri E. Taschereau Laurier, WilfridLaurier November 21, 1902 (1902-11-21) May 2, 1906 (1906-05-02) 1,2581,258 days 1,8081,808 days 1911-04-14(1911-04-14)April 14, 1911 4
16 Richards, WilliamWilliam B. Richards Mackenzie, AlexanderMackenzie September 30, 1875 (1875-09-30) January 10, 1879 (1879-01-10) 1,1981,198 days 3,6693,669 days 1889-01-26(1889-01-26)January 26, 1889 1
17 Cartwright, JohnJohn R. Cartwright Pearson, LesterPearson September 1, 1967 (1967-09-01) March 23, 1970 (1970-03-23) 0,934934 days 3,5333,533 days 1979-11-24(1979-11-24)November 24, 1979 12
18 Wagner, RichardRichard Wagner Trudeau, JustinJ. Trudeau December 18, 2017 (2017-12-18) 2352}}2,352 days 0,000Incumbent 2024-05-27 18
Rank by
length
of term 		Chief Justice Appointed
by 		Date of
appointment 		Date of
retirement 		Length of
term 		Length of
retirement 		Date of death Order
by Date
  1. ^ a b c d Died in office.

Milestone illustrations

The time frames involved in the length of service by previous holders of the office can be illustrated by comparing them to the length of time it would take for incumbent Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin to reach them:

  • McLachlin surpassed William J. Ritchie as the longest-serving Chief Justice in history on September 22, 2013.
  • To surpass Lyman Duff as the longest serving Supreme Court Justice in history, McLachlin will have to serve on the Supreme Court until Saturday, July 11, 2026. McLachlin's age on that date will be 82 years, 307 days. However, as Justices have a mandatory retirement age of 75, it will be impossible for McLachlin to pass this milestone unless the mandatory retirement age is removed, or as was the case with Justice Duff a special act of parliament extend her service.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Chief_Justices_of_Canada_by_time_in_office&oldid=815516335"