List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by time in office

This is a list of Canadian Supreme Court Justices by time in office. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be greater by the number of distinct periods of service (1 for most). The tenures of incumbents are accurate as of February 23, 2012.

Rank by
length
of term		 Justice Length
in days
as a justice		 Length
in days
as C.J.C.		 Term of office as a justice
Term in office as C.J.C.
1 Lyman Poore Duff 13,617 3,949 September 27, 1906 –January 7, 1944
March 17, 1933 –January 7, 1944
2 Thibaudeau Rinfret 10,857 3,819 October 1, 1924 – June 22, 1954
January 8, 1944 – June 22, 1954
3 Henri-Elzéar Taschereau 10,069 1,259 October 7, 1878 – November 21, 1902
November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906
4 Robert Taschereau 10,067 1,549 February 9, 1940 – September 1, 1967
April 22, 1963 – September 1, 1967
5 Patrick Kerwin 10,060 3,139 July 20, 1935 – February 2, 1963
July 1, 1954 – February 2, 1963
6 Samuel Henry Strong 9,911 3,627 September 30, 1875 – December 13, 1892
December 13, 1892 – November 18, 1902
7 Roland Almon Ritchie 9,312 — May 5, 1959 - October 31, 1984
8 Ronald Martland 8,793 — January 15, 1958 - February 10, 1982
9 Francis Alexander Anglin 8,772 3,088 February 23, 1909 – February 28, 1933
September 16, 1924 – February 28, 1933
10 Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux 8,768 1,372 December 22, 1949 – December 23, 1973
March 23, 1970 – December 23, 1973
11 John Wellington Gwynne 8,394 — January 14, 1879 – January 7, 1902
12 Beverley McLachlin &100000000000083700000008,370 (&100000000000044350000004,435) March 30, 1989 – present
January 7, 2000 – present
13 Louis Henry Davies 8,255 1,987 September 25, 1901 - May 1, 1924
November 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924
14 John Idington 8,085 — February 10, 1905 - March 31, 1927
15 John Robert Cartwright 7,397 935 December 22, 1949 – March 23, 1970
September 1, 1967 – March 23, 1970
16 Telesphore Fournier 7,288 — September 30, 1875 – September 12, 1895
17 Antonio Lamer 7,224 3,477 March 28, 1980 – January 6, 2000
July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000
18 Douglas Charles Abbott 7,116 — July 1, 1954 - December 23, 1973
19 Wilfred Judson 7,106 — February 5, 1958 - July 20, 1977
20 Brian Dickson 6,306 2,265 March 26, 1973 – June 30, 1990
April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990
21 William Johnstone Ritchie 6,206 5,007 September 30, 1875 – January 11, 1879
January 11, 1879 – September 25, 1892
22 Ivan Cleveland Rand 5,850 — April 22, 1943 - April 27, 1959
23 Wishart Flett Spence 5,693 — May 30, 1963 - December 29, 1978
24 Désiré Girouard 5,654 — September 28, 1895 – March 22, 1911
25 Charles Holland Locke 5,585 — June 3, 1947 - September 16, 1962
26 Claire L'Heureux-Dubé 5,557 — April 15, 1987 - July 1, 2002
27 Jean Beetz 5,428 — January 1, 1974 - November 10, 1988
28 Charles Gonthier 5,295 — February 1, 1989 - August 1, 2003
29 Bora Laskin 5,122 3,743 March 19, 1970 – March 26, 1984
December 27, 1973 – March 26, 1984
30 Ian Binnie 5,034 — January 8, 1998 - October 21, 2011
31 Frank Iacobucci 4,924 — January 7, 1991 - June 30, 2004
32 Robert Sedgewick 4,915 — February 18, 1893 – August 4, 1906
33 Roy Lindsay Kellock 4,853 — October 3, 1944 - January 15, 1958
34 John C. Major 4,791 — November 13, 1992 - December 25, 2005
35 Gérard La Forest 4,641 — January 16, 1985 - September 30, 1997
36 William Alexander Henry 4,600 — September 30, 1875 – May 3, 1888
37 Charles Fitzpatrick 4,554 4,554 June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918
June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918
38 Louis-Philippe Pigeon 4,524 — September 21, 1967 - February 8, 1980
39 Louis-Philippe Brodeur 4,444 — August 11, 1911 - October 10, 1923
40 Louis LeBel &100000000000044350000004,435 — January 7, 2000 – present
41 James Wilfred Estey 4,126 — October 6, 1944 - January 22, 1956
42 Pierre-Basile Mignault 3,994 — October 25, 1918 - September 30, 1929
43 Albert Blellock Hudson 3,941 — March 24, 1936 - January 6, 1947
44 Michel Bastarache 3,926 — September 30, 1997 - June 30, 2008
45 Willard Zebedee Estey 3,859 — September 29, 1977 - April 22, 1988
46 Oswald Smith Crocket 3,857 — September 21, 1932 - April 13, 1943
47 Peter Cory 3,773 — February 1, 1989 - June 1, 1999
48 Emmett Matthew Hall 3,752 — November 23, 1962 - March 1, 1973
49 William Rogers McIntyre 3,699 — January 1, 1979 - February 15, 1989
50 Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon 3,633 — January 14, 1930 - December 25, 1939
51 John Sopinka 3,472 — May 24, 1988 - November 24, 1997
52 Henry Hague Davis 3,439 — January 31, 1935 - June 30, 1944
53 Marie Deschamps &100000000000034920000003,492 — August 7, 2002 – present
54 John Henderson Lamont 3,266 — April 2, 1927 - March 10, 1936
55 Bertha Wilson 3,229 — March 4, 1982 - January 4, 1991
56 Morris Fish &100000000000031290000003,129 — August 5, 2003 – present
57 George E. King 2,786 — September 21, 1893 – May 8, 1901
58 Julien Chouinard 2,693 — September 24, 1979 - February 6, 1987
59 Edmund Leslie Newcombe 2,641 — September 16, 1924 - December 9, 1931
60 Rosalie Abella &100000000000027030000002,703 — October 4, 2004 – present
61 Louise Charron 2,521 — October 4, 2004 - August 30, 2011
62 Robert Smith 2,396 — May 18, 1927 - December 7, 1933
63 Marshall Rothstein &100000000000021900000002,190 — March 1, 2006 – present
64 Louise Arbour 1,751 — September 15, 1999 - June 30, 2004
65 Christopher Salmon Patterson 1,732 — October 27, 1888 – July 24, 1893
66 Gerald Le Dain 1,647 — May 29, 1984 - November 30, 1988
67 Louis-Philippe de Grandpré 1,370 — January 1, 1974 - October 1, 1977
68 James Maclennan 1,228 — October 5, 1905 - February 13, 1909
69 William Buell Richards 1,199 1,199 September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879
70 Jean-Thomas Taschereau 1,103 — September 30, 1875 – October 6, 1878
71 Thomas Cromwell &100000000000011630000001,163 — December 22, 2008 – present
72 Wallace Nesbitt 873 — May 16, 1903 - October 4, 1905
73 Frank Joseph Hughes 699 — March 17, 1933 - February 13, 1935
74 Yves Pratte 638 — October 1, 1977 - June 30, 1979
75 William Stevenson 628 — September 17, 1990 - June 5, 1992
76 Albert Clements Killam 549 — August 8, 1903 - February 6, 1905
77 Henry Grattan Nolan 495 — March 1, 1956 - July 8, 1957
78 David Mills 455 — February 8, 1902 - May 8, 1903
79 Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin 246 — January 30, 1924 - October 1, 1924
80 John Douglas Armour 233 — November 21, 1902 - July 11, 1903
81 Michael J. Moldaver &10000000000000130000000130 - October 21, 2011 – present
82 Andromache Karakatsanis &10000000000000130000000130 - October 21, 2011 – present

See also

Canadian politics by time in office