Derek Ross, Toronto, CA

Derek Ross, LL.B. (Western), LL.M. (Toronto), is Executive Director & General Counsel for Christian Legal Fellowship. His litigation practice focuses on human rights and religious freedom, and he has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also appeared before legislative and Parliamentary committees to present on constitutional and legal issues.

Derek is a centre associate with the UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies. He also served as an Executive Member of the Charity and Not-for-Profit Law and Constitutional and Human Rights Law sections of both the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association. His writings have appeared in a number of publications, including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Montreal Gazette, Law 360, Canadian Lawyer, Policy Options, The Hub, National Newswatch, and The Public Discourse. He is the general editor of two editions of The Supreme Court Law Review, which were also published as correlated books: Assisted Death: Legal Social, and Ethical Issues After Carter (LexisNexis Canada, 2018), and Canadian Pluralism and the Charter: Moral Diversity in a Free and Democratic Society (LexisNexis Canada, 2019). He also co-edited The Forgotten Fundamental Freedoms of the Charter (LexisNexis Canada, 2020), Forgotten Foundations of the Canadian Constitution (LexisNexis Canada, 2021), and Rights, Freedoms, and Their Limits: Reimagining Section 1 of the Charter (LexisNexis Canada, 2023).

Derek previously served as Director of Legal Affairs for the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, Canada's largest association of religious organizations, where he served on the Canada Revenue Agency's Technical Issues Working Group and as the general editor of the Charities Handbook (2014), a comprehensive legal guide for Canadian charities. Prior to that, Derek practiced civil litigation with a focus on insurance and municipal law.