Ontario’s top court has too few judges compared with other provinces, Chief Justice says

From left: Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Chief Justice Michael Tulloch and the province's Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont in 2023.

Ontario Chief Justice Michael Tulloch says the province’s top court is under severe strain because it has too few judges compared with other provinces, and he is calling on Ottawa to fix the problem.

The judge heads the Ontario Court of Appeal, one of the country’s most prominent courts after the Supreme Court of Canada.

A Globe and Mail analysis of staffing data from Federal Judicial Affairs Canada shows that Ontario’s appeal court has roughly half the number of judges behind the bench, relative to population, compared with the top provincial courts in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.

Chief Justice Tulloch called the addition of more judges to O