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Inside the Court Building (Virtual Tour)

Court Building

Grand Entrance Hall

Judges' Gallery

Main Courtroom

Registry

Judges' Conference Room

Judges' Reading Room

Chief Justice's Office

Puisne Judge's Office

Registrar's Office

Library Atrium

Library - Room A

Library - Room C

Floor Plans

Photo Gallery

Art Gallery

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Visit the Court

Court Building

View image details
of the Court building
(front view at night)

The Supreme Court Building was designed by Ernest Cormier, the Montréal architect who also designed the Government Printing Bureau in Hull and the University of Montréal. Situated just west of the Parliament Buildings on a bluff high above the Ottawa River, and set back from a busy Wellington Street by an expanse of lawn, the building provides a dignified setting worthy of the country's highest tribunal.

A statue of former Prime Minister Louis S. St-Laurent (1949-1957), erected in 1976, stands on the lawn in front of the building. It is the work of Vancouver sculptor Erek Imredy. There are two flagstaffs at the front of the building. The one to the west is hoisted daily. The other flag flies only when the Court is sitting.

Two tall statues have been erected on the steps of the building, Truth, on the west, and Justice to the east. They were made by the Toronto artist, Walter S. Allward, creator and architect of the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge in France. At the rear, there is a fountain and a terrace overlooking the Ottawa River.

At the entrance to the building are two fluted, metallic, torch-like pillars with clusters of lighting brackets at the top.

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