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The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada. It was established by the Parliament of Canada through the Supreme and Exchequer Court Act of 1875, as authorized by Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867. Since 1949, the Court has been the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. (Previously, it had functioned as an intermediate appellate court subject to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.) Parliament initially fixed the size of the Court at six justices: the chief justice of Canada and five puisne justices; and, until 1887, the justices also sat individually as judges of the Exchequer Court. A sixth puisne justice was added in 1927, bringing the Court to a total of seven justices. Two additional puisne seats were created in 1949, bringing the Court to a total of nine justices, which is its current complement.

The following tables trace the succession of justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by seat. Justices are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. When a chief justice leaves office, the vacancy is traditionally filled by elevating an incumbent puisne justice to the position, which requires a separate appointment process. There are no formal numbers or names for the individual puisne justice seats, which are listed in this article simply by number and the name of the first puisne justice to occupy it, as well as by the year in which each was established by Parliament. The numbering of puisne justice seats established simultaneously, 1–5 and 6–7, reflects the order of precedence of the inaugural justices to occupy those seats.

The start date listed for each justice is the day the justice took the judicial oath of office, and the end date is the date of the justice's death, resignation, retirement, or appointment as chief justice. The names of incumbents are in bold.

Original seats

Additional seats

Notes

1. ^ Appointed directly as chief justice.
2. ^ Appointed chief justice
3. ^ Justices Iacobucci and Arbour retired on the same day, June 30, 2004. Their successors, Justices Abella and Charron were appointed on the same day, August 30, 2004. Since Justice Iacobucci was senior to Justice Arbour in the order precedence, and Justice Abella was senior to Justice Charron, for the purposes of this table Justice Abella is deemed to have succeeded Justice Iacobucci, and Justice Charron to have succeeded Justice Arbour.
4. ^ Justices Binnie and Charron both retired in 2011. Their successors, Justices Moldaver and Karakatsanis, were both appointed on the same day, October 21, 2011. Since Justice Binnie was senior to Justice Charron in the order precedence, and as Justice Moldaver is likewise senior to Justice Karakatsanis, for the purposes of this table Justice Moldaver is deemed to have succeeded Justice Binnie, and Justice Karakatstanis to have succeeded Justice Charron.

References

1. Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, SC 1875, c. 11, s. 1.
2. Constitution Act, 1867, s. 101.
3. Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, s. 3.
4. The Exchequer Court Act, SC 1887, c 16.
5. An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act, SC 1927, c. 38, s. 1.
6. An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act, SC 1949, c. 37, s. 1.
7. Supreme Court Act, RSC 1985, c. S-26, s. 4.

Sources

• Dates of service from:
  "Current and Former Chief Justices". Ottawa, Ontario: Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  "Current and Former Judges". Ottawa, Ontario: Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2018.

External links

• Supreme Court of Canada homepage

• Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Lists of Canadian judges