In 1985, Munro decided to retire permanently from acting for the stage, and to concentrate on directing and playwriting, appearing as an actor only occasionally on film, television and radio.
In the early 1990s, Munro was invited by Christopher Newton to become Resident Director at Shaw Festival.
), Lord of the Flies, Counsellor-at-Law, Saint Joan, The Front Page, The Petrified Forest, Rashomon, Marsh Hay, The Seagull and all of The Shaw Festival's productions of Granville Barker's plays, including The Voysey Inheritance, The Marrying of Ann Leete, Rococo, Waste, The Secret Life, His Majesty and The Madras House.
Munro was married to the actress and painter Carole Galloway, who died in 2000; the couple had no children.
Munro died in London, Ontario, after a lengthy struggle with cancer, on July 13, 2009.