Perron was president of Ontario Bar Association, while Moisan was president of Quebec bar
Sean Fraser, Canada’s justice minister and attorney general, has announced the appointments of two new judges: Karen C. Perron to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa and Nicolas Moisan to the Quebec Superior Court for the Quebec district.
Perron replaces Justice Laurie Lacelle in Kingston. Lacelle resigned as of Dec. 31, 2025. As Geoffrey Morawetz, chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court, has transferred Justice Robyn M. Ryan Bell from Ottawa to the Kingston vacancy, Perron will sit in Ottawa.
Moisan takes the place of Justice Pierre C. Bellavance in the Quebec district. Bellavance resigned effective last Feb. 2.
Fraser, who also serves as minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, wished the two judicial appointees success and expressed confidence that they would serve the people of Ontario and Quebec well.
News releases from the federal justice department provided more information regarding the new judges.
Karen Perron
Perron most recently served as an associate judge, appointed in 2024, at the Ontario Superior Court for the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario in Ottawa.
She joined Borden Ladner Gervais LLP as an associate in 2011 and became a partner in 2014. There, her commercial litigation practice covered insolvency law, contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, and construction law.
From 2021–23, Perron was president of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA). At the OBA, she also served as chair of the Young Lawyers’ Division-East, chair of the Law Day Committee, chair of Sections, and regional director for the East.
In 2016, she received the OBA’s Linda Adlam Manning Award for Volunteerism.
Perron has volunteered in numerous community initiatives, including sitting on the board of the Community Information Centre of Ottawa. She mentored articling students and associates, as well as presented frequently at legal education programs.
She began her legal practice as an associate at Merovitz Potechin in Ottawa.
Perron earned admission to the Ontario bar in 2004. She received her BA and LLB from the University of Ottawa. She is fluently bilingual and is from Timmins, Ontario.
Nicolas Moisan
Moisan was an attorney and a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Quebec. At the firm, he mainly practised civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on health law, professional liability, and professional disciplinary law.
He also handled environmental litigation, particularly soil and groundwater contamination matters, and class-action lawsuits regarding neighbourhood disturbances. At McCarthy Tétrault, he helped train and mentor the next generation of legal professionals.
At the Quebec bar, Moisan sat on the board of directors beginning in 2021, and became president of the bar for the 2026–27 term.
He has belonged to numerous committees, including those dedicated to governance, liaison with the courts, and the advancement of dispute prevention and resolution methods. As a speaker and author, he has focused on health law, environmental law, and the law of evidence.
He joined the Quebec bar in 2005 and received his LLB from Laval University.
