The naming of Moreau will give Canada’s top court five female judges and four male judges. Moreau was most recently the chief justice of Alberta’s superior court, and has worked in that court for 29 years. She will fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the resignation of Russell Brown in June.

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Moreau has practiced criminal law, constitutional law, and civil litigation after studying at the University of Alberta and the Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec.

“A glass ceiling shattered,” Canada’s Justice Minister Arif Virani said on X, noting that Moreau’s appointment will give the Supreme Court bench a majority of women for the first time in its history.