Malcolm Rowe (born June 27, 1953) is a Canadian who has served as a puisne justice of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

since 2016. Rowe is the first judge from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

to sit on the Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Rowe was born on June 27, 1953 in St. John’s,

, to parents who grew up in the province's small fishing communities. Rowe attended

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He studied at York University's

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

from 1975–78 and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Career

Rowe was called to the bar by the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1978 and

The Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

(Ontario) in 1986. Before becoming a judge, Rowe worked in the

Canadian foreign service Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

. He also started his own private practice in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

that focused on

Canadian constitutional law Canadian constitutional law () is the area of Canadian law relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Canada by the courts. All laws of Canada, both provincial and federal, must conform to the Constitution and any la ...

, foreign affairs, and

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

over maritime boundaries. He was an adviser for Progressive Conservative cabinet minister

John Crosbie John Carnell Crosbie (January 30, 1931 – January 10, 2020) was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a ...

and Liberal cabinet minister

Brian Tobin Brian Vincent Tobin (born October 21, 1954) is a Canadian businessman and former politician. Tobin served as the sixth premier of Newfoundland from 1996 to 2000. Tobin was also a prominent Member of Parliament and served as a cabinet ministe ...

, 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) The Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador is at the top of the hierarchy of courts for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Court of Appeal derives its powers and jurisdiction from the Court of Appeal Act. The independe ...

in 2001, where he served for 16 years. Rowe also taught

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

as a lecturer at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

for two years.

Supreme Court of Canada

Rowe was nominated by Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

in October 2016 to sit on the

, succeeding Justice

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

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 Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician who was the 19th prime minister of Canada from June to November 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the f ...

. Rowe's appointment to the court was effective October 28, 2016, and he was formally sworn in at a private ceremony on October 31, 2016. In March 2021, the Supreme Court found that the federal government's carbon price regime is

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. Rowe was one of three dissenting justices. He concluded that the federal government's carbon price law was unconstitutional because it interfered with areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.

Personal life

Rowe was married to

Moya Greene Dame Moya Marguerite Greene (born 10 June 1954) is a Canadian businesswoman who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Mail from 2010 until 2018, having previously been the CEO of Canada Post. Early life and education Moya Margueri ...

, with whom he has a daughter.

References

External links

Biography at Supreme Court of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Malcolm 1953 births Living people Canadian King's Counsel Judges in Newfoundland and Labrador Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Osgoode Hall Law School alumni People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Canadian civil servants Canadian company founders Law firm founders 21st-century Canadian judges