Few of his recommendations for general reorganization were immediately feasible from the military and economic points-of-view, and the manner of his appointment was protested by Sir William Osler as an affront to the medical profession.

In 1919, Bruce published Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps, criticizing the government for its actions but avoiding any specific denunciation of Hughes.

In 1920, Bruce purchased a farm on Bayview Avenue overlooking the Don Valley and built a Tudor-style mansion which he named Annandale.

He often verbally clashed with new Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn who attempted to curtail the extravagance of the vice-regal office in the face of the Great Depression.

The lieutenant-governor's official residence, Chorley Park, was closed by the Hepburn government at the end of Bruce's term on the pretext of cutting costs.