Malcolm Rowe

Early life and career

Rowe was born in 1953 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to parents who grew up in the province's small fishing communities.

Rowe attended the Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he earned a B.Sc. and a B.A. in political science. He studied at Osgoode Hall Law School from 1975–78 and graduated with an LL.B.. Rowe was called to the bar by the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1978 and The Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1986.

Before becoming a judge, Rowe worked in the Canadian foreign service. He also started his own private practice in Ottawa that focused on Canadian constitutional law, foreign affairs, and arbitration over maritime boundaries. He was deputy minister for Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin, and served as secretary to Newfoundland and Labrador's cabinet after Tobin returned as premier.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division) in 1999. He was elevated to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Court of Appeal) in 2001, where he served for 16 years.

Rowe also taught public and constitutional law as a lecturer at the University of Ottawa for two years.

Supreme Court of Canada appointment

Rowe was nominated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October 2016 to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, succeeding Justice Thomas Cromwell who retired that September. Rowe is the first judge from Newfoundland and Labrador to sit on the Supreme Court. Rowe's appointment was the result of a process newly instituted by Trudeau in which any jurist in Canada was invited to apply to a seven-member committee headed by former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Kim Campbell. Rowe's appointment to the court was effective October 28, 2016 and was formally sworn in at a private ceremony on October 31, 2016.