June 22, 2026
Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, widely reputed in recent years to be a leading candidate for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, has been nominated to fill the western vacancy that opened up with the May 30 retirement of Supreme Court of Canada Justice Sheilah Martin, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on June 22.
June 18, 2026
The Ontario government has joined forces with Waterloo Region to appeal a court decision from last month that struck down a local bylaw aimed at clearing a homeless encampment from land needed for construction of a major transit hub, a decision that recognized homelessness as an analogous ground of discrimination under the Charter for the first time.
June 17, 2026
Four mainly First Nations organizations were granted leave to intervene in a proposed class proceeding in September by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Lise Favreau in a ruling released on June 12. In B.M. v. Ontario, 2026 ONCA 422, Justice Favreau said the Anishinabek Nation, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), the Chiefs of Ontario and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation will be able to participate as friends of the court in an appeal of a motion judge’s decision to dismiss a claim as a class proceeding.
June 16, 2026
The federal government has introduced legislation that would establish enforceable drinking water and wastewater standards on First Nation lands and announced a $4.6-billion funding commitment for water and wastewater infrastructure in First Nation communities.
June 16, 2026
B.C.’s top court has turned back an argument by a man who went to the United States to receive medical treatment that the province’s failure to reimburse his costs violated his constitutional rights.
June 15, 2026
B.C.’s top court has revived a free speech lawsuit against the University of British Columbia (UBC), saying the plaintiffs do not need to bring an action against the provincial government because the university may be liable for Charter damages.
June 12, 2026
In a novel and potentially far-reaching constitutional judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 6-3 that the 2019 appointment of a unilingual lieutenant-governor in Canada’s only officially bilingual province infringed the Charter’s s. 16(2) linguistic protections for New Brunswick’s francophone minority.
June 12, 2026
Appeal by appellant from a New Brunswick Court of Appeal judgment which set aside a judgment finding that the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick should be bilingual. On the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Governor General appointed Murphy as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. Murphy was not bilingual, and she did not become so during her term of office.
June 11, 2026
A recent judicial ruling recognizing homelessness as an analogous ground of discrimination under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has come under fire as “judicial activism.” (Waterloo (Regional Municipality) v. Dugas, 2026 ONSC 2971.)
June 10, 2026
The Supreme Court’s controversial Jordan decision, which has sparked the dismissal of thousands of cases due to unconstitutional trial delay, is still good law, but stays of proceedings are not a cure for undue systemic trial delay, Canada’s top judge says. “One stay of proceedings is too many,” Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner stressed at his annual press conference in Ottawa June 9.