He first became a member of the House of Commons of Canada at the Fraser Valley West electoral district which he won in the 1968 federal election.

Rose made an earlier, unsuccessful attempt at the Fraser Valley riding in 1965.

He served two terms in the 28th and 29th Canadian Parliaments before being defeated by Robert Wenman of the Progressive Conservative party in the 1974 election.

Rose returned to Canadian Parliament in the 1979 federal election with a victory at the Mission—Port Moody electoral district.

He won his campaign for the Coquitlam-Moody riding and was a member of that province's Legislative Assembly until 1991.