[4] Shurman left university without completing his BA degree and started out in technical maintenance, progressing through a number of positions including program announcing, reporting, sales, and management.
After 22 years in the radio broadcasting business, Shurman became CEO and principal shareholder of Universal TeleResponse Corporation (UTR), a major call centre in North Toronto.
Shurman became involved with a student anti-strike group, York Not Hostage and was successful in bringing significant pressure to bear on the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty.
[citation needed] Back-to-work legislation was presented to the Legislature which was recalled from winter break to pass it and bring an end to the strike.
During his tenure he served as the Opposition Critic for Economic Development & Trade, Francophone Affairs and was Vice-Chair of the Legislature's Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
He served as PC Caucus Finance Critic until September 8, 2013 when he was removed from the position after a "heated exchange" with party leader Tim Hudak in which Shurman refused to repay a housing allowance he had received for a Toronto apartment .
In the October 2011 election, Shurman ran and held his Thornhill seat against a challenge by former Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber, running as the Ontario Liberal Party candidate.
The letter admonished Shurman for claiming mileage from his Niagara-on-the-Lake home to Toronto as an expense, something specifically cleared by the Legislative Finance Department.