Much like MLB, the 2026 SCC framework season is now officially underway.
And in honour of the Mets hanging an ERA of 67.50 on Paul Skenes after just 0.2 innings, I have prepared this inexcusably premature annual comparison of framework rates (FW/¶100) based on a very small sample of judgments (n = 6) for 2026.[1]
| 2024 Term | 2025 Term | 2026 Term (to 03/26/26) | |
| Median FW/¶100 | 1.42 | 1.52 | 4.23 |
| Mean FW/¶100 | 5.48 | 2.40 | 6.33 |
| Standard Deviation | 9.71 | 2.79 | 6.75 |
Yes, it is way too early to draw any conclusions…but 2026 is off to a great start!
If we isolate the first six qualifying judgments from each year, 2026 looks a lot more like (era-defining) 2024 than (boring old mean-regression) 2025.
| 2024 Term | 2025 Term | 2026 Term | |
| Median FW/¶100 | 2.05 | 2.93 | 4.23 |
| Mean FW/¶100 | 6.80 | 3.18 | 6.33 |
| Standard Deviation | 9.17 | 2.45 | 6.75 |
In 2025, it took the Court until June to register its first double-digit FW/¶100 judgment: 13.00 in R. v. Bouvette, 2025 SCC 18. That judgment was also the high-water mark for the term.
This year, just like in 2024, the Court hit double digits in its first qualifying judgment: R. v. Hussein, 2026 SCC 2 posted 19.79 FW/¶100. The justices are bringing heat and showing stamina in their early opinions, such as Quebec (Attorney General) v. Kanyinda, 2026 SCC 7 (4.71 FW/¶100) and R. v. Singer, 2026 SCC 8 (5.44 FW/¶100).
The Court’s framework fixation seems as strong as ever. In particular, the rising median FW/¶100 suggests the Court may have raised its floor by deciding to deploy frameworks more consistently and across more domains. If these trends hold, the likes of York Region (28.0 FW/¶100) and even Société des Casinos (46.6 FW/¶100) may be within reach this term.
As a misguided veteran reliever once said, “Ya gotta believe!“
[1] As in previous years, annual figures exclude opinions shorter than ten paragraphs.
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