What is the Supreme Court's main function?

The Supreme Court of Canada is the country's final court of appeal, the highest court in the Canadian judicial hierarchy. Its principal function is to hear appeals from provincial and federal courts of appeal on questions of law of national or public importance. The Court was established by the federal Supreme Court Act of 1875 and is governed today by the Supreme Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S-26 (as amended). The Court has been Canada's true final court of appeal only since 1949, when appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London were abolished.

The Court has three principal categories of jurisdiction. First, appeals as of right: the Court must hear certain appeals, including criminal cases where a justice of a court of appeal dissented on a question of law. Second, appeals by leave: most cases require the Court's permission to be heard, granted only when the case raises a question of national or public importance. Third, references: the federal government can refer questions to the Court under section 53 of the Supreme Court Act, and the Court issues advisory opinions (famously including the 1981 Patriation Reference, the 1998 Reference re Secession of Quebec, and the 2014 Reference re Senate Reform).

The Court is the final interpreter of the Canadian Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), and federal and provincial statutes. Major Charter decisions include R. v. Oakes (1986, the section 1 limits framework), R. v. Big M Drug Mart (1985, religious freedom), R. v. Morgentaler (1988, abortion), R. v. Sparrow (1990, Aboriginal rights), Carter v. Canada (2015, assisted dying), R. v. Jordan (2016, trial delay), and Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia (2014, Aboriginal title). The Court has decided more than 600 Charter cases since 1982.

The Court also serves as the final court of appeal in non-constitutional matters: criminal law, civil law (including Quebec's Civil Code), administrative law, family law, and many other areas. The Court's decisions bind all lower courts and tribunals in Canada. The Court hears cases over three annual sessions (winter, spring, fall) in the Supreme Court of Canada Building in Ottawa. The Chief Justice and eight puisne justices sit in panels of seven or nine for most cases, though smaller panels (five or seven) hear leave applications and motions. Decisions are issued in both English and French and are made available immediately on the Court's website.