Allison enrolled at SURP in 2003, after completing an Honours B.A. at the University of Toronto with a double major in Architecture and Urban, Economic and Social Geography. While attending SURP, Allison worked for two summer terms at the City of Mississauga in Urban Design.
Upon graduation in 2005, Allison joined the Urban Design section of City Planning at the City of Toronto. For the first 10 years of her career at the City of Toronto, as an Assistant Urban Designer and then Urban Designer, she worked primarily on urban design guidelines and policy development, as well as program implementation such as the biennial .
In 2016, Allison joined the Etobicoke York District of the City of Toronto as a Senior Urban Designer. Since joining the Etobicoke York District, she has advanced planning and design excellence and contributed to improving the quality of the built environment through the formation of new policies and guidelines and the review of hundreds of development applications. Highlights include the new Etobicoke Civic Centre, Bloor Islington and Bloor Kipling Housing Now Block Context Plan, and the High Park Apartment Neighbourhood Area Character Study, Policy & Guidelines (2019 CIP Award of Merit).
Since 2021, Allison assumed a leadership role as Urban Design Program Manager for the Etobicoke York District overseeing a diverse, high-performing team of eight urban design professionals responsible for providing expert advice and support for city-wide Official Plan policy development and implementation, district-based development review, community engagement, resolution of Ontario Land Tribunal appeals, and delivery of area-specific planning studies.