The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced the following appointment under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

The Honourable Howard Leibovich, a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Oshawa, is appointed Regional Senior Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario for the Central East Region. Justice Leibovich replaces Justice M. Edwards (Newmarket), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective October 10, 2025.

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“I wish Justice Leibovich every success as he takes on his new role. I am confident he will serve the people of Ontario well as a member of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario.”

— The Hon. Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Biography

Justice Howard Leibovich graduated from McGill University’s Faculty of Management with a Bachelor of Commerce. He then received his B.C.L. and L.L.B. from McGill University’s Faculty of Law and moved to Toronto where he began his legal career in 1996 at the Crown Law Office-Criminal.

At the time of his appointment to the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in 2019, Justice Leibovich had been Director of the Crown Law Office-Criminal since 2011 where, in addition to his litigation practice, he was responsible for the office’s operation. He was the Chair of the Ontario Criminal Conviction Review Committee, whose mandate is to examine past cases for potential miscarriages of justice. He was also a member of the Death Investigation Oversight Council an independent body that oversees Ontario’s death investigation system. He has prosecuted criminal cases at all levels of court with the majority of those cases being at the Ontario Court of Appeal dealing with complex legal issues.