How many Supreme Court justices are there?

The Supreme Court of Canada has nine justices: a Chief Justice and eight puisne (junior) justices. The composition is set by section 4 of the federal Supreme Court Act. By tradition and statutory requirement, three justices must come from Quebec (because Quebec's civil-law tradition requires Supreme Court representation familiar with the Civil Code of Quebec). The other six justices are conventionally allocated three from Ontario, two from the West, and one from Atlantic Canada, although these regional conventions are not statutory requirements.

Justices are appointed by the Governor in Council (effectively, the federal Cabinet on the advice of the Prime Minister). Since 2016 the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments has screened candidates and recommended a shortlist. Justices serve until age 75 (the mandatory retirement age) under section 9 of the Supreme Court Act and can be removed only on a joint address of both houses of Parliament under section 99 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (a removal procedure that has never been used).

The current Chief Justice is Richard Wagner, appointed Chief Justice on December 18, 2017 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (he was first appointed to the Supreme Court as a puisne justice in 2012). The Chief Justice presides over court hearings, manages court administration, chairs the Canadian Judicial Council, and serves as Deputy Governor General for some ceremonial functions including swearing in the Governor General. The Chief Justice receives an annual salary of about $458,000; puisne justices receive about $424,000 (2025 salaries indexed annually).

The Court sits in the Supreme Court of Canada Building on Wellington Street in Ottawa, designed by Ernest Cormier and opened in 1946. The Court hears about 50 to 80 appeals per year on cases granted leave (after about 500 to 700 leave applications), plus reference cases submitted by the federal government. Hearings are held over three annual sessions (winter, spring, fall). Decisions can be unanimous or split, with the longest decisions running to several hundred pages. The Court's website at scc-csc.ca publishes all decisions in both official languages.