On April 26, 2023, Justice France Thibault will retire from the Court of Appeal of Quebec, where she has sat since December 1, 1998.

After her admission to the Quebec Bar in 1976, she practised law with the firm of Grondin, Poudrier, Bernier. She also taught at the École de formation professionnelle du Barreau and was a sessional lecturer in labour law at Université Laval.

Justice Thibault was a member of various committees of the Quebec Bar. She also co-authored a number of publications on occupational health and safety. As a proud alumna of the Law Faculty of Université Laval, she was a member of its Advisory Board (2000-2008); a member of the Editorial Board of the Cahiers de droit (1996-2013); a member of the Science Committee of the Cahiers de droit (since 2013); and a member of the Selection Committee for La Revue juridique des étudiants et étudiantes de l’Université Laval (2000-2008).

She was also involved within the judiciary, having served as President of the Conférence des juges des cours supérieures du Québec (2006-2007). Moreover, she was Secretary (2004-2005), Vice-President (2005-2006) and then President (2006-2007) of the Quebec regional chapter of the International Association of Women Judges and sat on the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics (2006-2014).

Justice Thibault was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court in January 1994 and elevated to the Court of Appeal on December 1, 1998, where she was coordinating judge for the Court’s Quebec City seat from June 2010 to June 2013.

In 2005, the Quebec Bar awarded her the Mérite Christine Tourigny. The following year, she received the Advancement of Women award from the YWCA.

In the words of Chief Justice Manon Savard: “Justice Thibault, a distinguished jurist, combines the remarkable qualities of compassion and intellect. She performed her role as an appellate judge with a constant concern for providing humane and accessible justice, always showing great respect for counsel and litigants. Her exceptional organizational skills, dynamic personality and open-mindedness made Justice Thibault a colleague we could always count on and whose outstanding work benefited the entire Court. We will miss her presence on the Court.” Her colleagues extend their best wishes to her on her retirement.