John Calvin graduated from UNB in 1985, with a B.Sc., Engineering (Surveying). He has been a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick since 1987 and a member of the Association of New Brunswick Land Surveyors since 1990, where he served ten years on the Standards Committee and 3 years on Council. Calvin has spent most of his professional career with Hughes Surveys and became its president in 2002.

In addition to legal surveys, Calvin has conducted hydrographic and aquaculture surveys throughout Atlantic Canada, and has been involved in a broad range of surveying projects in his 19-year career, ranging from machine alignment and construction surveys to vertical and horizontal control surveys.