McGrath was born and raised in St. John's before moving to the mining area of Labrador West in the 1970s.
[1][2] In August 2011, McGrath defeated Peter McCormick and Olympic gold medallist Mark Nichols to win the Progressive Conservative nomination in the district of Labrador West.
He resigned as Minister on September 29, 2014, following a report by the Auditor General which indicated McGrath pushed through the cancellation of a multimillion-dollar contract (Humber Valley Paving Ltd) within hours without notifying senior government officials or the premier.
[8] In the 2015 provincial election McGrath placed third after Liberal victor Graham Letto and New Democrat Ron Barron.
[11] In October 2020, McGrath was chosen as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Labrador West in the province's next election.