Deani Van Pelt

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Deani Van Pelt is a Senior Fellow and Former Director of the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education at the Fraser Institute. Following her studies at McMaster University (B.Comm.) and the University of Toronto (B.Ed.) she taught mathematics and business subjects in both public and private secondary schools. She then completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Education at The University of Western Ontario where she was awarded the Bishop Townshend Gold Medal Award for excellence in graduate studies. From 2006 to 2014 she served at Redeemer University College, first as Assistant Professor and then as Associate Professor of Education. During this time she led several international research collaborations funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, taught a variety of courses including Systems of Education, and was Director of Teacher Education for four years. Her research and publications in Canadian education policy include studies in home schooling, independent schooling and education funding. She has presented numerous times over the last two decades in academic and practitioner conferences across North America. Recently a co-author of the Fraser Institute studies Education Spending in Canada: What’s Really Happening? and Financial Savings: Restructuring Education in Ontario Using the British Columbia Model, she continues to appear on TV and in radio talk shows across Canada. Her work has been featured in many Canadian newspapers including the National Post and Globe and Mail and she has served as an expert witness.