Sebastien Breau

Sebastien Breau is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Geography at McGill University, serving as co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Regional Sciences, Academic Director of the McGill-Concordia Quebec Inter-university Center for Social Statistics (QICSS) Lab, and mentor for McGill’s Provost’s Faculty Mentor Network.

His educational background includes a PhD in Geography from UCLA (2006), an MA in Economics from Université Laval (1999), and a B.Sc.Soc. in Economics from Université de Moncton (1995), preceded by professional experience as an economist at the Conference Board of Canada and Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development.

As an applied economic geographer, Breau develops novel datasets to investigate spatial dimensions of income inequality, regional economic development, and policy implications of spatial disparities within North America. His work integrates quantitative methods with innovation studies and labor market analysis to address structural economic challenges.

Analysis of his 2020-2024 publications reveals dominant themes in Canadian spatial inequality, energy poverty geography, and urban policy impacts. Key trends include methodological innovations in measuring regional inequality, interdisciplinary approaches linking public health and energy access, and critical examinations of transportation infrastructure’s role in neighborhood inequality trajectories.

Breau mentors PhD candidate Morgan Sleeth and MA students Abigail Milovancevic and Saman Gais-Rhasem, while leading four major SSHRC-funded initiatives: the Arctic Economy Partnership (2021-2026), Cross-Country Income Inequality Analysis (2021-2024), Canadian Journal of Regional Science support (2022-2026), and Canada’s shrinking middle class dynamics (2018-2023).

His QICSS Lab serves as a hub for social statistics research, coordinating interdisciplinary teams analyzing regional development patterns through advanced spatial methodologies and policy-relevant frameworks.