When Plant chose not to run for a second term in government, he cited a wish to spend more time with his wife who was experiencing breast cancer. Upon his exit from provincial politics, he joined the law firm of Heenan Blaikie while maintaining government appointments as senior advisor in land and resource negotiations with the Council of the Haida Nation and for Campus 2020: a review of post-secondary education. He also has accepted a position as a sessional instructor at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law.