Pearl Eliadis is an Associate Professor (professional) at the Max Bell School of Public Policy and teaches at the Faculty of Law. Pearl is also a practising lawyer specializing in human rights and divides her time between her practice and McGill. In her law practice, Pearl has served as a senior consultant to the UN and has successfully led complex, global projects with the UNDP and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She has also served in-country in seven countries in the Global South and has worked on human rights projects for Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Canada, Pearl has a decade of progressive experience in the Ontario and federal public services and served on the advisory council of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She has authored several publications on human rights, public policy, and democratic governance. Her 2014 monograph, Speaking Out on Human Rights: Debating Canada’s Human Rights System, won the Huguenot Society of Canada Award and remains a leading text on human rights commissions and tribunals in Canada. She currently leads legal reform initiatives with the Quebec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative and in 2025 was elected Chair of the Official Language Rights Expert Panel of Canada’s Court Challenges Program.
Pearl is deeply engaged in civil society and is a full member of McGill’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. She has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Canada 125 Commemorative medal and was named “Human Rights Change Maker” in 2017 by Equitas. In 2024, received the Distinguished Service Award (McGill University, Alumni Association) and the Atlantic Human Rights Centre’s Award for Excellence in Human Rights. A member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Quebec Bar Association, she was president of the Quebec Bar Association’s human rights committee for eight years and continues to serve on its expert group on human rights.
Courses offered:
Core Policy Course: Law, Human Rights and Public Policy
Policy Case Study: Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda
Policy Case Study: Preventing Homelessness in Quebec
Previous Courses offered:
Policy Case Study: Preventing Violence Against Women and Children in Kenya
Policy Case Study: Racial and Social Profiling
Degrees:
B.C.L. (Oxon.) University of Oxford, Law
LL.B., B.C.L. McGill University, Law
B.Sc. McGill University, Biology
Recent publications:
- "Turning Off the Tap: Preventing Homelessness for Victims of Violence" in J. Hughes (ed.) Ending Homelessness in Canada: The Case for Homelessness Prevention (Lorimer, 2024).
- Policy Evaluation in the Era of COVID-19. Comparative Policy Evaluation Series (Routledge, 2023) (with Indran A. Naidoo and Ray Rist eds.)
- "Human Rights Evolution: Reflections on 75 Years of Canada’s Human Rights History" in John Humphrey, Canada and the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts, Canadian Themes / Thèmes canadiens Fall/Winter 2023.
- “Reconsidering Rwanda’s National Commission for Human Rights” in Global Justice Journal, Queens University Law (2025).
Events:
