Federal Court (Canada)

The Federal Court (French: Cour fédérale) is a Canadian trial court and superior court with nationwide jurisdiction that hears cases arising under certain areas of federal law. It was created on July 2, 2003, when amendments to the Federal Court Act, renamed the Federal Courts Act, split the former Federal Court of Canada into two courts: the Trial Division became the Federal Court and the Appeal Division became the Federal Court of Appeal. The former court had itself succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada, set up in 1875 as a revenue court. The Federal Court's jurisdiction is civil, and trials and applications are conducted by a single judge and never with a jury. Although based in Ottawa, it holds sittings and motion days across Canada, and immigration and refugee matters made up 82.2 percent of its proceedings in 2025.