Not a job you apply for out of school. Lawyers with 10 or more years of practice apply, and a committee decides.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Ontario Court of Justice
$387,000
Provincial court, smaller provinces
$310,000
Federally appointed
$415,000
Judges' pay is set by independent commissions, not negotiated. Provincial court judges earn about $310,000 to $390,000 depending on the province; Ontario Court of Justice judges are near the top at about $387,000. Federally appointed judges, on superior courts, courts of appeal and the Federal Court, earn about $415,000, adjusted every April. Chief justices earn more.
Full salary from day one
There is no junior judge. A new judge earns the same as one with 20 years on the bench.
Many new judges take a pay cut from private practice. Others take a raise from a Crown office or legal aid. For a lawyer at a small firm, $387,000 is a big step up.
Two-thirds of salary
Federally appointed judges with 15 years of service who meet the age rule retire on two-thirds of salary for life
Provincial plans are similar. Because most judges are appointed in their 40s or 50s, this is one of the strongest pensions in Canada. Mandatory retirement is 75 for federally appointed judges.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
A judge is a lawyer first, so the cost to qualify is the cost of a law degree and a licence, paid ten or more years before anyone considers you for the bench. The low end is a cheaper undergraduate degree and a law school outside Ontario, then the licensing fees. The high end is a full four year undergraduate degree and a high tuition law school such as the University of Toronto. Applying to be a judge is free and new judge training is paid for, so the real price is the decade of practice, not a bill.
The real cost is time. You have to build a reputation as a lawyer first.
Security of tenure
A judge can only be removed for serious misconduct after a formal process. Nobody can fire you for a decision.
Pension
Among the best in the country, and you cannot be pushed out before it vests.
Independence
The government you rule against cannot cut your pay.
Staff
A judicial assistant, and for appeal judges, law clerks fresh out of law school.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Become a lawyer, practise for a decade or two, then apply and wait.
Become a lawyer
7 to 8 years
Undergrad, the LSAT (law school admission test), a 3-year JD (juris doctor), then licensing.
Practise law
10 to 20 years
At least 10 years at the bar is the legal minimum for federal appointments and for most provincial courts. Litigators, Crowns, defence and family lawyers are the usual pool.
Build a reputation
Throughout
Committees ask judges and lawyers who know you. Volunteer work, teaching and bar association roles matter.
Apply
6 months to years
Provincial court: your province's judicial appointments committee. Superior courts: the federal judicial advisory committees run by the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs. The committee rates you; the government picks from the list.
Appointment
Weeks
The provincial cabinet or the federal Minister of Justice appoints you. Swearing-in, then judge training.
English and writing
Judges write the decisions. Clear writing is the core skill.
History, law and civics
Useful background for law school.
Debate
Listening to two sides and deciding is the job.
Anything you actually like
Judges come from every kind of practice. The path is long, so start with what keeps you going.
There is no judge's licence. Provincial court judges are appointed by the provincial government, usually on the advice of an independent committee. Superior court, court of appeal, Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada judges are appointed by the federal government. Applicants must be lawyers in good standing with a law society, and for federal courts and most provincial courts, must have at least 10 years at the bar. Judges keep their law society membership but cannot practise.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers
The bulk of provincial criminal court judges.
Family lawyers
Family courts need judges who know the work.
Civil litigators
Superior courts hear big lawsuits, so trial lawyers are favoured.
Academics and government lawyers
Less common, but represented on appeal courts.
A judicial clerkship after law school
One year working for a judge. Not required, but many judges did it.
Teaching or writing
Bar courses, law school lecturing, published articles.
Bar association and community work
Committees look for service.
Bilingualism
Needed for many appointments in Quebec, New Brunswick, Ottawa and the federal courts.
In Ontario and several other provinces, justices of the peace preside over bail hearings, traffic court and search warrant applications. You do not need to be a lawyer. Ontario requires a university degree or college diploma plus 10 years of work experience, an application to a committee, and appointment by the province. It is a full-time salaried position.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Court sits from about 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A provincial court judge might hear 30 bail matters and guilty pleas before lunch and a trial after. A superior court judge sits on one trial for days or weeks. Before and after court: reading briefs, writing reasons, case conferences with lawyers. Circuit judges fly or drive to small communities and sit in a school gym or a band office.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The wooden gavel is an American courtroom thing. No Canadian judge bangs one. A court clerk calls the room to order instead.
By law, three of the Supreme Court of Canada's nine judges must come from Quebec, because Quebec uses civil law. By convention the others come from Ontario, the West and Atlantic Canada.
Every four years an independent commission recommends judges' salaries. Governments can refuse, but must give reasons a court could review. The system exists so a government cannot punish judges by cutting their pay.
Federally appointed judges must retire at 75. It is written into the Constitution. Many first become supernumerary judges, taking a reduced caseload at full pay after 15 years on the bench.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.