Alan Kessel

Expert Overview

Alan Kessel is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and former assistant deputy minister for legal affairs and legal adviser to Global Affairs Canada (2017–2024). Over a four-decade career in Canada’s foreign service, he held senior legal and diplomatic roles, including deputy high commissioner to the United Kingdom and legal adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs. He represented Canada in key international negotiations on criminal justice, treaty law, and multilateral diplomacy, with postings in Sweden, Geneva, and London.

Kessel holds law and undergraduate degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Waterloo and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981.