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Supreme Court of Canada

National Supreme Courts (Last Resort)

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in the Canadian judicial system, sitting in Ottawa. It comprises nine justices, hears appeals from provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its rulings are the final word on the interpretation and application of Canadian law, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was established in 1875 but did not become Canada's court of last resort until 1949, when appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London ended. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Founding Year
1875 2
Seat
Ottawa, Ontario 2
Founded Date
1875-04-08 2
Jurisdiction Scope
Hears cases across every area of Canadian law and serves as final court of appeal from provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts. 1
Jurisdiction Scope
Jurisdiction Scope (category)
Federal 1
Jurisdiction Scope (category)
Final Court of Appeal 1
Connections

Decided

Decided by the Supreme Court of Canada, 1988.

Source R v Oakes (Wikipedia)

Decided by the Supreme Court of Canada, 1998.

Has Member

Source Albert Hudson (Wikipedia)
Source Albert Clements Killam (Wikipedia)
Source Andromache Karakatsanis (Wikipedia)
Antonio Lamer, Jurists
Source Wikidata: Antonio Lamer
Source Albert Malouin (Wikipedia)
Bertha Wilson, Jurists
Source Bertha Wilson (Wikipedia)
Source Beverley McLachlin - Wikipedia
Bora Laskin, Jurists
Source Bora Laskin, Wikipedia
Brian Dickson, Jurists
Source Brian Dickson (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Charles Fitzpatrick
Source Charles Holland Locke (Wikipedia)
Source Christopher Salmon Patterson (Wikipedia)
Source Claire L'Heureux-Dub? (Wikipedia)
David Mills, Jurists
Source David Mills (Wikipedia)
Source Désiré Girouard (Wikipedia)
Source Douglas Abbott (Wikipedia)
Source Edmund Leslie Newcombe (Wikipedia)
Source Francis Alexander Anglin (Wikipedia)
Source Frank Joseph Hughes (Wikipedia)
Source George Edwin King (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Gerald Fauteux
Glenn Joyal, Jurists
Source Glenn Joyal (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Henri Elzéar Taschereau
Source Henry Hague Davis (Wikipedia)
Ivan Rand, Jurists
Source Ivan Rand (Wikipedia)
Source James Maclennan (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: James Wilfred Estey
Source Wikidata: Jean-Thomas Taschereau
Source John Douglas Armour (Wikipedia)
Source John Henderson Lamont (Wikipedia)
John Idington, Jurists
Source John Idington (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: John Robert Cartwright
Source John Wellington Gwynne (Wikipedia)
Source Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Louis Henry Davies
Louise Arbour, Jurists
Source Louise Arbour (Wikipedia)
Source Louis-Philippe Brodeur (Wikipedia)
Lyman Duff, Jurists
Source Wikidata: Lyman Duff
Mahmud Jamal, Jurists
Source Mahmud Jamal (Wikipedia)
Malcolm Rowe, Jurists
Source Malcolm Rowe (Wikipedia)
Mary Moreau, Jurists
Source Mary Moreau (Wikipedia)
Source Michelle O'Bonsawin (Wikipedia)
Source Nicholas Kasirer (Wikipedia)
Source Oswald Smith Crocket (Wikipedia)
Source Patrick Kerwin (Wikipedia)
Source Pierre-Basile Mignault (Wikipedia)
Source Richard Wagner (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Robert Sedgewick
Source Robert Taschereau (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Rosalie Abella
Source Roy Kellock (Wikipedia)
Source Samuel Henry Strong (Wikipedia)
Suzanne Cote, Jurists
Source Suzanne C?t? (Wikipedia)
Source Télesphore Fournier (Wikipedia)
Source Thibaudeau Rinfret (Wikipedia)
Source Wallace Nesbitt (Wikipedia)
Source William Alexander Henry (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: William Buell Richards
Source William Johnstone Ritchie (Wikipedia)

In Legal System

Canada is a common law country outside Quebec, whose private law is civilian; the Supreme Court sits atop both traditions.

Source Supreme Court of Canada (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Supreme Court of Canada, Official Website
Supreme Court of CanadaOfficial site - jurisdiction-scope
Quote, Official site - jurisdiction-scope
The Court hears cases in all areas of the law, including constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and private law.
View the Source
2. Supreme Court of Canada (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph - entity-description
    The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; French: Cour supreme du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts.
  • Founding section - founding-year
    The Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, which passed on April 8, 1875, with bipartisan support. The Act simultaneously established both the Supreme Court and the Exchequer Court.
  • Founding section - founded-date
    The Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, which passed on April 8, 1875, with bipartisan support.
  • Lead paragraph - seat-city
    The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; French: Cour supreme du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada.
  • In Category: Courts, Category placement - in-category
  • In Legal System: Common Law, Founding section - in-legal-system
View the Source
Wikidata: Supreme Court of Canada
Wikidata Q196615, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
R v Oakes (Wikipedia)
WikipediaDecided: R v Oakes, Court and year section - decided-byView the Source
Beverley McLachlin - Wikipedia
Has Member: Beverley McLachlin, Infobox
Quote, Has Member: Beverley McLachlin, Infobox
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
View the Source
Brian Dickson (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributorsHas Member: Brian Dickson, Infobox
Quote, Has Member: Brian Dickson, Infobox
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
View the Source
Mahmud Jamal (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Mahmud Jamal, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Mahmud Jamal, Lead section
Mahmud Jamal (born July 20, 1967) is a Canadian jurist serving as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada since 2021.
View the Source
Michelle O'Bonsawin (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributorsHas Member: Michelle O'Bonsawin, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Michelle O'Bonsawin, Lead section
Michelle O'Bonsawin (born May 2, 1974) is a Canadian jurist who is serving as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada since 2022.
View the Source
Bora Laskin, Wikipedia
Has Member: Bora Laskin, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Bora Laskin, Lead section
Bora Laskin (October 5, 1912, March 26, 1984) was a Canadian jurist who served as the 14th chief justice of Canada from 1973 to 1984 and as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1970 to 1973.
View the Source
Suzanne C?t? (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Suzanne Cote, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Suzanne Cote, Lead section
Suzanne Côté (born September 21, 1958) is a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Malcolm Rowe (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Malcolm Rowe, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Malcolm Rowe, Lead section
Malcolm Rowe (born June 27, 1953) is a Canadian who has served as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada since 2016.
View the Source
Nicholas Kasirer (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Nicholas Kasirer, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Nicholas Kasirer, Lead section
Nicholas Kasirer (born February 2, 1960) is a Canadian jurist who is serving as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada since 2019.
View the Source
Mary Moreau (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Mary Moreau, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Mary Moreau, Lead section
Moreau (born 1955 or 1956) is a Canadian jurist who is serving as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada since 2023 and is the first Franco-Albertain to sit on the Supreme Court.
View the Source
Glenn Joyal (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Glenn Joyal, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Glenn Joyal, Lead section
Joyal is a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Bertha Wilson (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Bertha Wilson, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Bertha Wilson, Lead section
Bertha Wernham Wilson (September 18, 1923, April 28, 2007) was a Canadian jurist and the first female puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Claire L'Heureux-Dub? (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Claire L'Heureux-Dube, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Claire L'Heureux-Dube, Lead section
Claire L'Heureux-Dubé (born September 7, 1927) is a retired Canadian judge who served as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1987 to 2002.
View the Source
Samuel Henry Strong (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Samuel Henry Strong, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Samuel Henry Strong, Lead section
He was among the original six justices appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada when it was established in 1875.
View the Source
Thibaudeau Rinfret (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Thibaudeau Rinfret, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Thibaudeau Rinfret, Lead section
He also served as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1924 to 1944.
View the Source
William Johnstone Ritchie (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: William Johnstone Ritchie, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: William Johnstone Ritchie, Lead section
He was one of the first judges appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the second-longest serving chief justice of the court after Beverley McLachlin.
View the Source
Télesphore Fournier (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Telesphore Fournier, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Telesphore Fournier, Lead section
Télesphore Fournier, (August 5, 1823, May 10, 1896) was a Canadian politician, lawyer, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
William Alexander Henry (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: William Alexander Henry, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: William Alexander Henry, Lead section
He was one of the Fathers of Confederation and one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
John Wellington Gwynne (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: John Wellington Gwynne, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: John Wellington Gwynne, Lead section
John Wellington Gwynne, (March 30, 1814, January 7, 1902) was a Canadian lawyer and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Christopher Salmon Patterson (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Christopher Salmon Patterson, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Christopher Salmon Patterson, Lead section
Christopher Salmon Patterson (January 16, 1823, July 24, 1893) was a Canadian Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
George Edwin King (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: George Edwin King, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: George Edwin King, Lead section
George Edwin King (October 8, 1839, May 7, 1901) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, second and fourth premier of New Brunswick, and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Désiré Girouard (Wikipedia)
Has Member: Desire Girouard, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Desire Girouard, Lead section
Désiré Girouard (July 7, 1836, March 22, 1911) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
John Douglas Armour (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: John Douglas Armour, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: John Douglas Armour, Lead section
John Douglas Armour (May 4, 1830, July 11, 1903) was a Canadian Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Francis Alexander Anglin (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Francis Alexander Anglin, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Francis Alexander Anglin, Lead section
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier appointed Anglin to the Ontario High Court of Justice in 1904, and was later elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1909.
View the Source
Patrick Kerwin (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Patrick Kerwin, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Patrick Kerwin, Lead section
Patrick Kerwin (October 25, 1889, February 2, 1963) was a Canadian judge who served as the tenth Chief Justice of Canada from 1954 to 1963 and as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1935 to 1954.
View the Source
Robert Taschereau (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Robert Taschereau, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Robert Taschereau, Lead section
Robert Taschereau (September 10, 1896, July 26, 1970) was a lawyer who served as the 11th Chief Justice of Canada from 1963 to 1967, as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1940 to 1963, and briefly as the Administrator of the Government of Canada for one month from March to April 1
View the Source
Ivan Rand (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Ivan Rand, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Ivan Rand, Lead section
Ivan Cleveland Rand (April 27, 1884, January 2, 1969) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, academic, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Wallace Nesbitt (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Wallace Nesbitt, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Wallace Nesbitt, Lead section
Wallace Nesbitt, (May 13, 1858, April 7, 1930) was a Canadian lawyer and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Albert Clements Killam (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Albert Clements Killam, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Albert Clements Killam, Lead section
Albert Clements Killam, (September 18, 1849, March 1, 1908) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge, railway commissioner, and Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
John Idington (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: John Idington, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: John Idington, Lead section
John Idington (October 14, 1840, February 7, 1928) was a Canadian justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
James Maclennan (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: James Maclennan, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: James Maclennan, Lead section
James Maclennan (March 17, 1833, June 9, 1915) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Louis-Philippe Brodeur (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Louis-Philippe Brodeur, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Louis-Philippe Brodeur, Lead section
During his career he served as a federal Cabinet minister in the government of Wilfrid Laurier, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Pierre-Basile Mignault (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Pierre-Basile Mignault, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Pierre-Basile Mignault, Lead section
Pierre-Basile Mignault (September 30, 1854, October 15, 1945) was a Canadian lawyer and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Albert Malouin (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin, Lead section
Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin (March 13, 1857, April 5, 1936) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Edmund Leslie Newcombe (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Edmund Leslie Newcombe, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Edmund Leslie Newcombe, Lead section
Edmund Leslie Newcombe, (February 17, 1859, December 9, 1931) was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
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John Henderson Lamont (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: John Henderson Lamont, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: John Henderson Lamont, Lead section
As a judge, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, and in 1927 as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon, Lead section
Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (April 28, 1877, December 25, 1939) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Oswald Smith Crocket (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Oswald Smith Crocket, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Oswald Smith Crocket, Lead section
Oswald Smith Crocket (April 13, 1868, March 2, 1945) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Frank Joseph Hughes (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Frank Joseph Hughes, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Frank Joseph Hughes, Lead section
Frank Joseph Hughes (November 26, 1883, April 14, 1967) was a Canadian lawyer and puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Henry Hague Davis (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Henry Hague Davis, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Henry Hague Davis, Lead section
Henry Hague Davis (September 10, 1885, June 30, 1944) was a Canadian lawyer and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Roy Kellock (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Roy Lindsay Kellock, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Roy Lindsay Kellock, Lead section
Roy Lindsay Kellock, (November 12, 1893, December 12, 1975) was a Canadian Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
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Charles Holland Locke (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Charles Holland Locke, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Charles Holland Locke, Lead section
Charles Holland Locke, (September 16, 1887, May 30, 1980) was a Canadian Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
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Douglas Abbott (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Douglas Charles Abbott, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Douglas Charles Abbott, Lead section
Douglas Charles Abbott (May 29, 1899, March 15, 1987) was a Canadian Member of Parliament, federal Cabinet Minister, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
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Louise Arbour (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Louise Arbour, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Louise Arbour, Lead section
During her career, Arbour has served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
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Richard Wagner (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Richard Wagner, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Richard Wagner, Lead section
He previously served as a puisne justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal (2011-2012) and of the Supreme Court of Canada (2012-2017).
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Wikipedia: Rosalie Abella
Has Member: Rosalie Silberman Abella, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Rosalie Silberman Abella, Lead section
In 2004, Abella was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman and refugee to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench.
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Andromache Karakatsanis (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Andromache Karakatsanis, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Andromache Karakatsanis, Lead section
She was nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada by Stephen Harper in October 2011.
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Albert Hudson (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Member: Albert Blellock Hudson, Lead section
Quote, Has Member: Albert Blellock Hudson, Lead section
In 1936, Hudson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
View the Source
Wikidata: Gerald Fauteux
Has Member: Gerald Fauteux, Wikipedia lead paragraph
Quote, Has Member: Gerald Fauteux, Wikipedia lead paragraph
In 1947 he was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court and to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 22, 1949. He was also one of the founders of
View the Source
Wikidata: Antonio Lamer
Has Member: Antonio Lamer, Wikipedia category: Chief justices of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: William Buell Richards
Has Member: William Buell Richards, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Charles Fitzpatrick
Has Member: Charles Fitzpatrick, Wikipedia category: Chief justices of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Henri Elzéar Taschereau
Has Member: Henri-Elzear Taschereau, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Robert Sedgewick
Has Member: Robert Sedgewick, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Louis Henry Davies
Has Member: Louis Henry Davies, Wikipedia category: Chief justices of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Lyman Duff
Has Member: Lyman Duff, Wikipedia category: Chief justices of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: John Robert Cartwright
Has Member: John Robert Cartwright, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: Jean-Thomas Taschereau
Has Member: Jean-Thomas Taschereau, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Wikidata: James Wilfred Estey
Has Member: James Wilfred Estey, Wikipedia category: Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
David Mills (Wikipedia)
Has Member: David Mills, Wikipedia category: cat:Justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaView the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

How many justices sit on the Supreme Court of Canada?

Nine justices.

The Court comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law.

When did the Supreme Court of Canada become the final court of appeal?

1949, when appeals to the Privy Council in London ended.

The Court was established in 1875 by the Supreme and Exchequer Court Act, passed on April 8, 1875, but it did not become Canada's court of last resort until 1949, when appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London ended.
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