Educated primarily in Canada, his career path commenced with an introduction to civil engineering at the University of New Brunswick and environmental design at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design as a planned precursor to architecture. In 1985, Murray was awarded a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (Architecture) from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Canada; in 1987, he was awarded a Master of Architecture degree and in 1990 he received his Master of Environmental Design Studies (Conservation of the Built Environment) all from the same university. Murray also attended Conservation of Historic Structures at the Institute for Advanced Architectural Studies in York and the Building Conservation Masterclass at West Dean College, Chichester. In 2008, Murray was awarded a Certificate in UK Planning and Law from Leeds Metropolitan University.