Zachary Spicer is a leading expert in municipal governance, public policy, and intergovernmental relations. He has held senior academic and advisory roles, including as Director of Research at the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. His work bridges research and practice, focusing on how cities govern, deliver services, and collaborate across levels of government. Zachary has published extensively on local democracy, innovation in service delivery, and metropolitan governance, and regularly advises governments, agencies, and community organizations on policy design and implementation.
Zachary is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University, where he also serves as the Head of New College. He began his career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University and completed post-doctoral fellowships with the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario.
Focus areas: governance, policy, innovation