Jonas Lehrman joined the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Architecture in 1966. A graduate of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, he studied Planning at London University, followed by a stint at McGill University studying Housing. After receiving his M.Arch. at McGill, he held the position of assistant professor in McGill's School of Architecture from 1961 to 1966. He then accepted a position of associate professor in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. He then joined accepted a joint appointment with the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning and the School of Architecture in 1971-1972. He then returned to the University of Manitoba and became a full professor in 1975. He later became president of the University of Manitoba Faculty Association. During his presidency, the University of Manitoba became the first major English-speaking university in Canada with a unionized faculty, setting an example that was eventually followed throughout the country. Lehrman held the position of associate dean of the Faculty of Architecture between 1984 and 1989. He also served as assessor and as a committee member on the University's Board of Governors and Senate. Lehrman was President of the Manitoba Association of Architects, Chairman of the Manitoba Association of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. While working in the Department of Architecture, Lehrman's prime interest and concern was his involvement in design studio. His students won several national competitions. Lehrman published many articles and papers in the fields of urban design, planning and housing, design aspects in general, and Islamic and Indian studies. He contributed to several books and authored Earthly Paradise: Garden and Courtyard in Islam. Lehrman practiced in private and public offices in both the United Kingdom and Canada during the course of his career. He retired from the University of Manitoba in 1996.