Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announces a judicial appointment in the province of Alberta

OTTAWA, ON, March 7, 2025 /CNW/ - The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

Caroline H.C. Magnan, Director, French Common Law Program, at the University of Ottawa, and Counsel at Juristes Power Law in Ottawa, is appointed a Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta in Calgary. Justice Magnan fills the remaining position authorized under Bill C-74 (2018) in Calgary.

Quote

"I wish Justice Magnan every success as she takes on her new role. I am confident she will serve Albertans well as a member of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta."

—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biography

Justice Caroline H.C. Magnan spent her childhood in Edmonton and Regina. She earned a B.A. from McGill University (2003) and an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa's French Common Law Program (2006), where she received the Yvon Blais Prize for the best cumulative GPA and the Silver Medal for the common law section. A Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the Baxter & Alma Ricard Scholarship, she completed her LL.M. at Harvard Law School. She was called to the Alberta Bar in 2009.

Justice Magnan is fluent in French and English. She clerked for the Honourable Justice Michel Bastarache at the Supreme Court of Canada. She began her career in tax law in Calgary before serving as legal counsel at the Court of Appeal of Alberta. In 2015, she joined the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law as Assistant Professor then Director of the Certification de common law en français program, which offers students from several Canadian law faculties the opportunity to take common law courses in French. Her teaching and scholarship focused on language rights, education law, and appellate advocacy. She also served as counsel at Juristes Power, where she worked on appellate litigation in complex constitutional and language rights matters, including several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Justice Magnan is actively involved in her community. She has served on the boards of the Fondation franco-albertaine, Pathways International, Jurisource.ca, the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, and the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française.

Justice Magnan and her husband Pierre are the proud parents of Gabrielle and Roméo.

Quick Facts

• The Government of Canada has appointed more than 860 judges since November 2015. This includes 234 appointments since the Honourable Arif Virani became Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada on July 26, 2023, a pace of appointments that has no precedent in Canadian history. These exceptional jurists represent the diversity that strengthens Canada. Of these judges, more than half are women, and appointments reflect an increased representation of racialized persons, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, and those who self-identify as having a disability.
• To support the needs of the courts and improve access to justice for all Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to increasing the capacity of superior courts. Budget 2022 provided for 22 new judicial positions, along with two associate judges at the Tax Court of Canada. Along with the 13 positions created under Budget 2021, this makes a total of 37 newly created superior court positions. Since Budget 2017, the government has funded 116 new judicial positions.
• Changes to the Questionnaire for Federal Judicial Appointments were announced in September 2022. The questionnaire continues to provide for a robust and thorough assessment of candidates but has been streamlined and updated to incorporate, among other things, more respectful and inclusive language for individuals to self-identify diversity characteristics.
• Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations from the Minister of Justice.
• The Judicial Advisory Committees across Canada play a key role in evaluating judicial applications. There are 17 Judicial Advisory Committees, with each province and territory represented.
• Significant reforms to the role and structure of the Judicial Advisory Committees, aimed at enhancing the independence and transparency of the process, were announced on October 20, 2016.
• The Government of Canada is committed to promoting a justice system in which sexual assault matters are decided fairly, without the influence of myths and stereotypes, and in which survivors are treated with dignity and compassion. Changes to the Judges Act and Criminal Code that came into force on May 6, 2021, mean that in order to be eligible for appointment to a provincial superior court, candidates must agree to participate in continuing education on matters related to sexual assault law and social context, which includes systemic racism and systemic discrimination. The new legislation enhances the transparency of decisions by amending the Criminal Code to require that judges provide written reasons, or enter them into the record, when deciding sexual assault matters.

SOURCE Department of Justice Canada

Contacts: For more information, media may contact: Chantalle Aubertin, Deputy Director, Communications, Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, 613-992-6568, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]