Marvyn Novick was born in Montreal in 1940 and grew up there. He graduated from Sir George Williams University in Montreal and did graduate work at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University. While in Montrea, he was a youth worker, a community organizer in Detroit and Baltimore, and a welfare rights strategist in Washington. In 1970 he moved to Toronto and worked as a senior program director with the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto.

He was a professor in the Department of Social Work and was also, at one time, the Dean of Community Services. He His area of concentration was social planning. He taught social policy and community practice focused courses at Ryerson. He was a policy thinker and community activist in his professional life. He researched and wrote major national reports on child poverty in Canada, addressed issues of work and family life, focused public attention on the social responsibilities of local governments in Ontario, conducted a widely cited two volume study on changing social conditions in Toronto suburbs, and is the author of working papers on the life chances of children.

He was active in the Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) and received a lifetime honourary membership in 2007.

Marvyn Novick died June 21, 2016