Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the appointment of Mary Moreau to the Supreme Court of Canada after nominating her for the post last month.
Moreau, who was chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Russell Brown.
Before her appointment to the Alberta court 29 years ago, the bilingual Moreau practised law in her native Edmonton, handling civil, criminal and constitutional cases.
Moreau was also named a deputy judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon in 1996, and of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in 2005.
She has long been involved in the legal profession at home and overseas through participation in educational efforts, judicial ethics initiatives and court modernization.
A majority of the judges on the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada are women for the first time in its 148-year history.