Derek is currently Chairman of Environics Research Group Limited, one of Canada's leading market research and polling organizations. He is also President of his own private holding companies, B & R Associates, and D. Ruston Holdings Inc. As an entrepreneur, Derek is a highly regarded angel investor, having been involved in more than 30 start-ups in his career, from hi-tech to hedge funds to a winery in California.

His real estate ventures include the ownership and management of office buildings in Toronto and surrounding areas and the organization of investment groups for real estate projects. He is a General Partner of Catalina Southwest Investments, a limited partnership that owns about 400 apartment units, and Santa Rita Investments, which owns 600 apartment units in Tuscon, Arizona.

Prior to joining Environics, Mr. Ruston was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in Chicago and Toronto, and a Senior Partner of Peter Barnard Associates in Toronto.