Sven Spengemann

Sven Michael Spengemann (born October 3, 1966) is a German-Canadian lawyer, bureaucrat and politician, who represented the electoral district of Mississauga—Lakeshore in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party from 2015 to 2022. In 2022, he resigned as the member of Parliament for Mississauga—Lakeshore to accept a role with the United Nations.

Early life Spengemann immigrated to Canada at age 14 with his family, and settled in the Credit Woodlands neighbourhood of Mississauga. He completed his secondary education at The Woodlands School.

Education Spengemann earned a BSc in psychology from the Mississauga campus of the University of Toronto in 1990.

Spengemann obtained an LL.B from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in 1998 and an LL.M focused on European Union Law from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1999. He earned a second LLM (international law) and a doctorate of juridical science at Harvard Law School in the field of political and constitutional theory, under the direction of Anne-Marie Slaughter, in 2006. In the course of his studies, Spengemann earned a number of awards and distinctions, including a Canada-US Fulbright Scholarship (2001).

Career From 1991 to 1995, Spengemen worked with Toronto-Dominion Bank, supervising their Green Line Investor Services. During this time, he oversaw a team of client service employees and compliance management.

From 2003 to 2005, Spengemann served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Government of Canada’s Privy Council Office, examining national security law and international regulatory issues in the Canada-U.S. bilateral relationship.

His work in Iraq earned him an Osgoode Hall Gold Key alumni award and recognition as a democracy expert in the University of Toronto’s 'Boundless' Campaign. In 2011, he spent a four-month sabbatical leave as a visiting scholar at the university's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, with a joint appointment to the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo.

Following his U.N. service in 2012, he became a visiting professor and BMO Visiting Fellow at York University, teaching graduate courses at its Glendon School of Public and International Affairs.

In the 2015 federal election, Spengemann defeated Conservative incumbent Stella Ambler to win the new Mississauga—Lakeshore electoral district. He was re-elected in both the 2019 and 2021 elections.

On May 18, 2022, Spengemann announced that he would resign as member of Parliament for Mississauga—Lakeshore to accept a position with the United Nations.

Personal life

Spengemann is fluent in English and French, as well as German. He was in a relationship with (and eventually married) Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan, who died in 2026.

Electoral record