On December 31, 2022, Justice Dominique Bélanger will retire from the Court of Appeal of Quebec, where she has sat since November 2, 2012. A graduate of Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law (LL.L. 1979), she was called to the Quebec Bar in 1980, and then completed her studies in law by obtaining a master’s in commercial law in 1981. Having begun her career in private practice at Chicoine et associés in Varennes, she later joined the law firm Stikeman Elliott, in Montreal, where she specialized in civil and commercial litigation. In 1986, she joined Quebec City’s Legal Department, and then moved to Kronström Desjardins. In 1991, she founded her own law firm, Pâquet Bélanger. Over the course of her practice, Justice Bélanger taught for more than ten years at the Quebec Bar School. For nearly twenty years, she taught at the Quebec Bar’s annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Seminar. She also held several positions within the Young Bar Association of Montreal, the Young Bar Association of Quebec City, and the Quebec City Bar.

Justice Bélanger was appointed as a member of the Administrative Tribunal of Québec in 1998, where she was primarily assigned to the economic affairs division and the territory and environment division. She was appointed to the Superior Court on April 21, 2005. There, she served as the class action coordinator and coordinating judge for the district of Montmagny and, later, the district of Beauce. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal on November 2, 2012, and served as the Coordinating Judge of the Court of Appeal in Quebec City from June 2018 to June 2022.

In the words of Chief Justice Manon Savard: “Justice Bélanger is a remarkable colleague and a model for all of us. She is a superb jurist—efficient, respectful and courteous, and always impeccably prepared for her cases. Her reasons, drafted promptly and in clear and convincing language, are a testament to her humanity and empathy. Her exceptional collaboration as Coordinating Judge allowed the Court of Appeal to pursue its judicial activities efficiently and effectively during the recent pandemic, serving the best interests of the public. Her irreproachable commitment to justice has been the guiding principle throughout her career. All of her colleagues at the Court, myself included, wish her a wonderful and healthy retirement in which she can realize all of her projects and dreams.”