The chief justice of Canada (French: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court system. The Supreme Court Act makes the chief justice, a Crown in Council appointment, meaning the Crown acting on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. The chief justice serves until they resign, turn 75 years old, die, or are removed from office for cause. By tradition, a new chief justice is chosen from among the court's incumbent puisne justices.

The chief justice has significant influence in the procedural rules of the Court, presides when oral arguments are held, and leads the discussion of cases among the justices. The chief justice is also deputy governor general, ex-officio chairman of the Canadian Judicial Council, and heads the committee that selects recipients of the Order of Canada. Additionally, a chief justice also assumes the role of Administrator of Canada and exercises the viceregal duties of the governor general upon the death, resignation or incapacitation of the governor general.

Richard Wagner has served as the current chief justice of Canada since 2017. Since the Supreme Court was established in 1875, 18 people have served as chief justice. The court's first chief justice was William Buell Richards; Beverley McLachlin is the longest serving Canadian chief justice (17 years, 341 days), and was the first woman to hold the position.

On October 8, 1875, General William O'Grady Haly administered the oath of office to Chief Justice William Buell Richards. A month later on November 8, the five puisne justices took their oath of office. In January 1879, Chief Justice William Buell Richards resigned following pressure from his longtime friend, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, likely due to Richards' deteriorating health. On January 11, 1879, William Johnstone Ritchie was appointed Chief Justice by Macdonald.

On September 25, 1892, Chief Justice William Johnstone Ritchie died after a relapse of bronchitis at the age of 78. Early rumors indicated that Prime Minister John Abbott may appoint Justice Minister John Sparrow David Thompson. The opinion that the Chief Justice should not default to the longest serving member of the Court was prevalent and prominent Conservative Senator James Robert Gowan who was a chief party advisor on legal matters opposed this strongly. Senator Gowan wrote Justice Minister Thompson suggesting Justice Strong be allowed to retire and the appointment be delayed, and indicated he had little faith in Strong's work ethic. However, three weeks after becoming Prime Minister, Thompson appointed Strong as the Court's third Chief Justice.

In April 1896, Parliament under the Conservative government of Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell amended the Supreme and Exchequer Courts Act to create the title of "Chief Justice of Canada". Prior to the amendment, the title was just "chief justice".

The chief justice is appointed by the Governor in Council under the Supreme Court Act on the advice of the prime minister. The appointment is subject to the Supreme Court Act, which governs the administration and appointment of judges of the court. By this component of the Constitution of Canada, Judges appointed to the court must be "a judge of a superior court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of a province."

Tradition dictates that the chief justice be appointed from among the court's puisne judges; in the history of the Court, only two were not: William Buell Richards, and Charles Fitzpatrick. It is also customary that a new chief justice be chosen alternately from among: the three justices who by law must be from Quebec (with its civil law system), and the other six justices from the rest of Canada (representing the common law tradition). Since 1933, this tradition has only been broken once, when Brian Dickson of Manitoba was named to succeed Bora Laskin of Ontario in 1984.