List of Chief Justices of Canada by age

This is a list of Chief Justices of Canada by age. This table can be sorted to display Canadian Chief Justices by name, order, date of birth, age at appointment, age at retirement, or lifespan.

Two measures of longevity are given; this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each Chief Justice. The first figure is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; in parenthesis the same period given in years and days, with the years being the number of whole years the Chief Justice lived, and the days being the remaining number of days after his last birthday. Where the Chief Justice in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to .

Overview

The median age of accession is roughly 65 years and 2.5 months, which is how old William J. Ritchie was when he became Chief Justice. The youngest person to become Chief Justice was Charles Fitzpatrick, at the age of 52 years, 167 days. The oldest person to become Chief Justice was Louis H. Davies, at the age of 73 years, 172 days.

The Chief Justice who retired at the oldest age was Lyman Duff, who retired on his 79th birthday. Louis H. Davies comes in a close second; he died 3 days before his 79th birthday while still serving as Chief Justice. As there is now a mandatory retirement age of 75 years for Justices, it is impossible for Duff's record to be broken unless the retirement age is removed.

The longest-lived Chief Justice was Lyman Duff, who died at the age of 90 years, 109 days. As of 2009, the only living Chief Justice is the incumbent Beverley McLachlin (born September 7, 1943); McLachlin's age is . McLachlin will tie Duff if she lives to December 23, 2033.

Upon her appointment in 2000, incumbent Beverley McLachlin became the youngest person to be appointed since Charles Fitzpatrick became Chief Justice 94 years earlier. Fitzpatrick is the only person to be appointed Chief Justice at a younger age than McLachlin.

Chief Justices of Canada