Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto (also the seat of the Law Society of Ontario and the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice).

Description

since December 1, 2025Template:Dated maintenance category (articles), the court is composed of 22 judicial seats, in addition to 5 justices who currently sit supernumerary. They hear over 1,500 appeals each year, on issues of private law, constitutional law, criminal law, administrative law and other matters. The Supreme Court of Canada hears appeals from less than 3% of the decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, therefore in a practical sense, the Court of Appeal is the last avenue of appeal for most litigants in Ontario.

Among the Court of Appeal's most notable decisions was the 2003 ruling in Halpern v Canada (AG) that found defining marriage as between one man and one woman to violate Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, legalizing same-sex marriage in Ontario and making Canada the first jurisdiction in the world where same-sex marriage was legalized by a court ruling. Among many judges from the Court who have been elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada are Justices Rosalie Abella, Louise Arbour, Peter Cory, Louise Charron, Andromache Karakatsanis, Bora Laskin, Michael Moldaver, and Mahmud Jamal, as well as Bertha Wilson, who was the first female justice on both the Court of Appeal for Ontario (1975) and the Supreme Court of Canada (1982).

The Court of Appeal derives its jurisdiction from Ontario's Courts of Justice Act.

Current judges

File:Osgoode Hall, courtroom -2.jpg

A courtroom at Osgoode Hall. Over the dais are the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, which until 1931 were the Royal Arms for general purposes throughout the British Empire. The Statute of Westminster 1931 effectively elevated the Royal Arms of Canada to the position of the King's Royal Arms for general purposes across Canada, which is why the Royal Arms of Canada are now used in courtrooms built since 1931 to represent the Canadian Crown.

Position	Name	Appointed	Nominated by	Position(s) Prior to Appointment*
Chief Justice	Michael Tulloch	Template:Dts Template:Dts (as chief)	Harper J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2003 to 2012) Private practice
Associate Chief Justice	J. Michal Fairburn	Template:Dts Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (December 16, 2014 to July 18, 2017) Stockwoods Ontario Crown Law Office
Justice	Jill Copeland	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2017 to 2022) Ontario Court of Justice (2014 to 2017)
Justice	Steve A. Coroza	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2013 to 2020) Ontario Court of Justice (2009 to 2013)
Justice	Jonathan Dawe	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2018 to 2023)
Justice	Jonathon George	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2016 to 2021) Ontario Court of Justice (2012 to 2016)
Justice	Lise Favreau	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2017 to 2021)
Justice	Sally Gomery	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2017 to 2023)
Justice	Grant Huscroft	Template:Dts	Harper	Professor, Western Law School (2002 to 2014) University of Auckland (1992 to 2001)
Justice	Lene Madsen	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2016 to 2024)
Justice	Bradley W. Miller	Template:Dts	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Patrick Monahan	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2017 to 2023)
Justice	David M. Paciocco	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Ontario Court of Justice Professor at University of Ottawa and Counsel at Edelson Clifford D'Angelo
Justice	Renee Pomerance	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2006 to 2024)
Justice	Mohammed Rahman	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2022 to 2025) Ontario Court of Justice (2016 to 2022)
Justice	Lois Roberts	Template:Dts	Harper	Superior Court of Justice (2008 to 2015) Genest Murray LLP (1988 to 2008) Cassels Brock (1987 to 1988)
Justice	Lorne Sossin	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2018 to 2020) Dean, Osgoode Hall Law School (2010 to 2018)
Justice	Julie Thorburn	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2006 to 2019)
Justice	Gary T. Trotter	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2008 to 2016) Ontario Court of Justice (2005 to 2008) Professor at Queen's University (2003 to 2016) Ontario Crown Counsel (1988 to 2000)
Justice	Darla Wilson	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Superior Court of Justice (2007 to 2024)
Justice	Benjamin Zarnett	Template:Dts	J. Trudeau	Goodmans LLP

Supernumerary Justices

Position	Name	Appointed	Nominated by	Position(s) Prior to Appointment*
Supernumerary Justice	Eileen E. Gillese	Template:Dts	Chrétien	Superior Court of Justice (1999 to 2002)
Supernumerary Justice	Peter Lauwers	Template:Dts	Harper	Superior Court of Justice (2008 to 2012) Miller Thompson LLP
Supernumerary Justice	Paul Rouleau	Template:Dts	Martin	Superior Court of Justice (2002 to 2005) Heenan Blaikie
Supernumerary Justice	Janet M. Simmons	Template:Dts	Chrétien	Superior Court of Justice
Supernumerary Justice	Katherine van Rensburg	Template:Dts	Harper	Superior Court of Justice (2006 to 2013) Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

Chief Justices of Ontario

Number	Name	Years
1	Sir William Buell RichardsTemplate:Efn	1868–1875
2	Robert Alexander HarrisonTemplate:Efn	1875–1878
3	Thomas Moss	1878–1881
4	John Godfrey Spragge	1881–1884
5	Sir John Hawkins Hagarty	1884–1897
6	Sir George William Burton	1897–1900
7	John Douglas Armour	1900–1902
8	Sir Charles Moss	1902–1912
9	Sir William Ralph Meredith	1912–1923
10	Sir William Mulock	1923–1936
11	Newton Rowell	1936–1938
12	Robert Spelman Robertson	1938–1952
13	John Wellington Pickup	1952–1957
14	Dana Porter	1958–1967
15	George Alexander Gale	1967–1976
16	Willard Estey	1976–1977
17	William Goldwin Carrington Howland	1977–1990
18	Charles Dubin	1990–1996
19	Roy McMurtry	1996–2007
20	Warren Winkler	2007–2013
21	George Strathy	2014–2022
22	Michael Tulloch	2022–present

Past judges

Name	Time in office	Nominated by
Marc Rosenberg	1995–2015	Jean Chretien
Stephen Goudge	1996–2014	Jean Chretien
Edward W. Ducharme	2012 - 2013	Stephen Harper
Warren Winkler, Chief Justice	2007–2013
Dennis O'Connor	1998–2012	Jean Chretien
Michael Moldaver	1995–2011	Jean Chretien
Andromache Karakatsanis	2010–2011
Marvin A. Catzman	1988–2007
Roy McMurtry	1996–2007 as Chief Justice
Louise Charron	1995–2004	Jean Chretien
Robert P. Armstrong	2002–2013
Rosalie Abella	1992–2004
Louise Arbour	1990–1999
Charles Dubin	1973–1996 (1992–1996 as Chief Justice)
William Goldwin Carrington Howland as Chief Justice	1977–1992
Walter Tarnopolsky	1985–1993
Peter Cory	1981–1989
Bert MacKinnon	1974–1987 as Associate Chief Justice
Bertha Wilson	1975–1982
Goldwyn Arthur Martin	1973–1988
Bora Laskin	1965–1970
Jean-Marc Labrosse	1990–2007
Roy Kellock	1942–1944
Henry Hague Davis	1933–1935
Newton Rowell as Chief Justice	1936–1937
Sir William Mulock as Chief Justice	1923–1936
John Douglas Armour	1887–1890 (as Chief Justice) (1901–1902)
John Hawkins Hagarty as Chief Justice	1884–1897
Thomas Moss as Chief Justice	1878–1880
Robert Alexander Harrison as Chief Justice	1875–1878

Chief Justices of Upper Canada (1792–1841)/Province of Canada (1841–1867)

Number	Name	Years
1	William Osgoode	1792–1794
2	John Elmsley	1796–1802
3	Henry Allcock	1802–1806
4	Thomas Scott	1806–1816
5	William Dummer Powell	1816–1825
6	Sir William Campbell	1825–1829
7	Sir John Beverley Robinson	1829–1862
8	William Henry Draper	1863–1867

See also

• Courts of Ontario
• Supreme Court of Canada

External links

• Court of Appeal for Ontario
• Ontario Courts website
• Plan to webcast Ontario appeal cases delayed