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Zachary Spicer is an Associate Professor at York University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. During the 2026-27 academic year he holds the Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair in Multidisciplinary Research at Vanderbilt University He previously served as the Director of Research and Outreach with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada and as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University.

At York, he also serves as the Head of New College and a faculty member with the Schulich School of Business Executive Education program, along with being a faculty affiliate with both the City Institute and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Beyond York, he is also a member of the Digital Mobilities Lab, the City Action Lab, an Associate at the University of Toronto’s Innovation Policy Lab, and an affiliate member of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is currently a member of the study teams for PARCITY and the Canadian Municipal Barometer.

He has also served as a consultant or advisor to dozens of governments and professional associations across Canada, including working as a Senior Policy Advisor for the province of Ontario with both the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Professor Spicer received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Toronto’s Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance.