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Christopher Waters

Lecturer
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Overview

Christopher Waters is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Commerce Program. He is a former military judge advocate who has taught at the undergraduate level in both military and civilian educational institutions. He holds an MBA from UNB and a PhD from Queen’s Faculty of Law.

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Appointment Type

Term Adjunct

Interest Topics

  • Business Law

Faculty Details

Profile

Full Bio

Christopher Waters was born in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1973, following an unanticipated early departure from high school, he enrolled in the Canadian Forces and served in a variety of roles and appointments in the Army. He participated in exercises and operations across Canada and in Australia, Norway, Germany, and was a UN peacekeeper in Cyprus. He was trained and employed as a reconnaissance patrolman and an anti-tank guided missile gunner. Having been recommended for and completing Armour officer training, Christopher served as a reconnaissance troop leader, a tank squadron commander and a formation senior staff officer.

In 2001 Christopher switched career paths. After completing law school and articles, he joined the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) as a military lawyer. As a member of JAG, he has worked in administrative law and grievances and also served as the Deputy Judge Advocate at Canadian Forces Base Kingston and as a professor at the Royal Military College. Christopher deployed twice in Afghanistan as the senior legal advisor to the Commander of the Canadian mission to support the International Security and Assistance Force, first in Kabul (2005) and then Kandahar (2009-2010). On return from Kandahar, he was appointed the Director of the Canadian Forces Military Law Centre in Kingston. Christopher retired in 2014 in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, having completed over 40 years service in the Canadian Forces. He resides in Kingston, where he continues his teaching career as an adjunct lecturer at Queen’s University Faculty of Law.

For his LLM thesis, Christopher examined military employment law and policy, in particular the delicate balance between the statutory requirement to keep members of the Canadian Armed Forces operationally effective and the duty to accommodate disabled employees under Canadian employment law.

Christopher’s PhD research interests were motivated by exposure to international military operations and his experience providing legal advice amid uncertain legal frameworks within difficult and violent peace support missions abroad. Consequently, his dissertation examined the means to reconcile the tension between International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law as applied to asymmetric conflict.

Christopher holds a BA in Political Science (Manitoba), an MBA and LLB (New Brunswick) and an LLM and PhD (Queen’s). Christopher is a member of the Law Society of New Brunswick and the Canadian Bar Association.

Academic Degrees

PhD | International Law (2018)
LLM (2007)
Queen's University, Canada

MBA (1997)
LLB (2000)
University of New Brunswick, Canada

BA | Economics (1992)
University of Manitoba, Canada

Academic Experience

Smith School of Business | Queen's University
Lecturer, term adjunct (2026 - Present)

Queen's University | Canada
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law (2013 - Present)

St Lawrence College | Canada
Sessional Lecturer (2013 - Present)