Faisal Shaheen

English, Urdu/Hindi, Punjabi, French, limited Arabic

Faisal completed his PhD in Policy Studies at Ryerson University. He also holds an MA in Public Policy and Administration from Ryerson University, an MBA in Strategic Policy and Sustainability from York University and a BSc (Specialized Honours) in Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Toronto. His doctoral dissertation is a comparative policy analysis of service delivery to informal settlements in South Asia's largest cities.

Faisal is a public servant with extensive private sector experience. He serves as a Manager of Information Systems at the City of Toronto and has been involved in several cross-divisional initiatives aimed at improving collaboration and information flow between municipal service-delivery providers. Prior to joining the public service, Faisal worked for some of Canada's leaders in environmental technology, analysing market trends and trade barriers specific to water treatment systems. A significant part of his work involved communicating sustainability benefits to small and medium sized manufacturers in light of state and provincial regulations. His experience in local market development and specialized training includes several provinces and states across rural North America.

In addition to his North America experience, Faisal does a considerable amount of lecturing, consulting, training and advisory work internationally. Although Faisal's focus is on South Asia, his research includes issues that span the Global South. Faisal has provided trade and development advice to provincial and federal government departments in Pakistan during the 1999 WTO ministerial in Seattle. He has also been part of several UN and NGO delegations, advocating for improved terms of trade for Pakistan, South Asia and the Global South. His international work is based at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he serves as a Visiting Associate. Faisal has also worked as an advisor and consultant with some of the region's trade and policy research initiatives, situated within the not-for-profit, multilateral as well as provincial and federal levels of government. Faisal has also served as a Research Fellow with Mahbub ul Haque Human Development Centre and regularly provides advice and technical support to the Punjab and Sindh government departments of planning and urban development. His most recent efforts have centred on the Punjab Government's “Urban Unit” where, in collaboration with other international researchers, the focus is on capacity-building in the Water and Sanitation Authorities in Pakistan. As a result of collaboration Faisal's training has helped launch a standardized approach to strategic planning and reporting across the province's five largest cities.