Born in the Dominion of Newfoundland, he attended McGill University and was involved in the fish-exporting business prior to joining the Commission of Government in 1938.
[4] Bursey began working for Newfoundland's Commission of Government in 1938, beginning with a post in Jamaica as a Fisheries Board trade representative.
In May 1943 he came back to Newfoundland, remained involved with the Fisheries Board,[4] and served as a representative for Britain at the Allied Food Commission.
He was transferred to Oslo, Norway in 1959, Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1963, Athens, Greece in 1967, and Stockholm, Sweden in 1969 to perform similar roles.
Among his contributions in this role, he was "heavily involved" in the development of the automotive portion of the North American Free Trade Agreement.