Born and educated in Toronto, Chris Alexander went to McGill, Laval and Balliol College, Oxford, earning a BA in history/political science and an MA in philosophy/economics before joining the Canadian foreign service in 1991.

He served twice at the Canadian embassy in Moscow, including as deputy head of mission, then was Canada’s first resident ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-05) and Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General (DSRSG) for Afghanistan (2005-09). He published The Long Way Back: Afghanistan’s Quest for Peace (HarperCollins 2011) and more recently ‘Ending Pakistan’s Proxy war in Afghanistan’ (Macdonald-Laurier Institute 2021).

He was MP for Ajax-Pickering (2011-15), Parliamentary Secretary for National Defence (2011-13) and Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2013-15), where he introduced Express Entry and committed to bring the first 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.

In 2016-17, Chris Alexander was a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada to promote innovative policies for a ‘New Canada’. He is now a consultant, board member and Distinguished Fellow with the Canadian International Council.

He lives in Ajax with his wife Hedvig Christine and three children.