Diversity on the Bench

The CSCJA supports a judiciary that reflects the diversity of Canadian society. Here are some resources to highlight:

• The Government of Canada announced reforms to the superior courts judicial appointments process on October 20, 2016. As part of these changes and in order to increase transparency and rigour, the Government mandated the Office of the Commissioner for Judicial Affairs to collect and publish statistics and demographic information on judicial applicants and appointments.

• The Department of Justice Canada held a virtual forum on Diversity on the Bench on September 17, 2020, with lawyers from across Canada’s justice system to encourage members of historically under-represented communities – such as Black and racialized Canadians, Indigenous peoples, persons with a disability or who identify as LGBTQ2 – to consider applying for judicial appointment.

• The Canadian Bar Association’s Madam Justice project is an online gallery presented by the Women Lawyers Forum in collaboration with the Judges Section. The project is intended to celebrate diversity on the bench by showcasing advice and perspectives from women judges across Canada.