Ottawa has rejected a recommendation by an independent commission to boost judges’ salaries by at least $28,000, saying it can’t justify the increase in the current economic climate.
The federal government said it “respectfully disagrees” with all of the one-time salary increases the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission suggested in its report to the minister of justice this summer.
The commission recommended an increase in judges’ salaries by $28,000 for regular provincial, superior, appellate courts, and federal courts, with $30,000 for chief justices, and $36,000 for the chief justice of the Supreme Court, effective retroactively from April 2024.
The commission, which is responsible for evaluating judicial compensation, said better salaries were needed to attract high-calibre candidates to the bench at a time when vacancies were hard to fill….