Giuseppina D’Agostino joins Federal Court as a judge

Sean Fraser, Canada’s justice minister and attorney general, has announced the appointment of Giuseppina D’Agostino as a Federal Court judge, replacing Mary Elizabeth Heneghan, who resigned as of Feb. 9.

“I wish Justice D’Agostino every success as she takes on her new role,” Fraser said in a news release from Canada’s justice department. “I am confident she will serve the people of Canada well as a member of the Federal Court.”

The federal justice department’s news release provided more information about D’Agostino’s legal career, which covered the private and public sectors and included work as a lawyer, law professor, author, and board director.

She most recently served as associate vice president for research at York University and as a full professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School.

At Osgoode, D’Agostino held a tier 1 York research chair in intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. She taught across Osgoode’s legal curriculum. She was also a lecturer in law at the University of Oxford.

Recruited into the federal government via the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program, D’Agostino worked as a senior policy analyst focusing on copyright policy. She has testified before Canada’s Parliament.

According to her profile on Osgoode’s website, she has served as an IP expert to Canada’s First Nations Information Governance Centre, as a co-chair of the York University AI & Society Task Force, as a member of the City of Vaughan’s Smart City Task Force, and as a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

The country’s courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, have cited D’Agostino’s books and articles. She commenced her legal career at a large law firm in Toronto.

Canadian Lawyer included her among its Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2022. She subsequently served on the Canadian Lawyer Editorial Board until 2025. Her other honours include the King Charles III Coronation Medal for outstanding contributions to the country.

D’Agostino earned admission to the Ontario bar in 2001. She also obtained an ICD.D designation from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management.

She received her doctorate and master’s degrees in copyright law with distinction from Oxford, her LLB from Osgoode, and her honours BA, summa cum laude, in English and political science, and her specialization in French from York University.

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