Noticing his aptitude for both mathematics and foreign languages, one of Pulleyblank's professors offered him a chance to do "secret war work", which he accepted.

He returned to Canada and on December 12, 1943 joined the Japanese Diplomatic Section of the Examination Unit,[4] and later began studying Chinese at Carleton University.

He taught courses while pursuing doctoral studies under the German sinologist Walter Simon, and received a Ph.D. in 1951 for a dissertation entitled "The Background and Early Life of An Lu-shan".

[6] Pulleyblank spent a year doing research at libraries in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, and also did additional studies in Chinese at Cambridge University, receiving an M.A.

Pulleyblank and his wife wanted to return to North America, and so in 1966 he left Cambridge to join the Asian Studies faculty at the University of British Columbia, where he remained until his retirement in 1987.