The Honourable Michael Battista

Justice Michael Battista obtained his B.A. from the University of Toronto and LL.B. from Queen’s Faculty of Law. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1992, he has practiced immigration and refugee law exclusively since that time. He is certified as a Specialist in Immigration and Refugee law by the Law Society of Ontario.

Justice Battista has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada for interveners: Amnesty International, Egale Canada and Rainbow Railroad. He is co-author of two legal texts: Canadian Family and Immigration Law: Intersections, Developments, and Conflicts and Family Class Sponsorship in Canadian Immigration Law. He was adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, where he was awarded the inaugural Teaching Innovation Award in 2018.

Committed to community service, Justice Battista began volunteering on the AIDS Committee of Toronto’s hotline at the height of the AIDS crisis and eventually became the organization’s Chair of the Board of Directors. He is also Founding Chair of Rainbow Railroad, an international 2SLGBTQI+ refugee support organization. He was inducted into the Ontario AIDS Network Honour Roll, recognized by the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto’s Community Service award, and received the 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce’s Business Advocate of the Year Award in 2023. He also received the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section’s Volunteer Appreciation Award.

Justice Battista is supported by his husband Keith, a retired City of Toronto firefighter, and their son Dario.

Appointed Judge of the Federal Court, and ex officio member of the Federal Court of Appeal, on April 30, 2024.