The Honourable Beverley McLachlin, PC, CC, CStJ

Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Canada

As Canada’s longest-serving chief justice and the first woman in the role, Beverley McLachlin has presided over some of the nation’s most important cases. Throughout her career, she has striven to ensure the primacy of the rule of law, and has promoted impartiality, equality and access to justice for all.

From 1974 to 1981, she served as an associate professor in the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. She was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1988 and seven months later, she was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

At a gala dinner in honour of her retirement in 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau characterized Beverley McLachlin as “someone who speaks with conviction and, more than that, listens with compassion. She is a consummate Canadian. Someone who wants to build a better world and is willing to work very very hard to make it happen.”

She has received over 35 honorary degrees from UBC and other universities throughout the world, and numerous other honours and awards, including the Order of Canada.