Buchart has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a Master's Degree from McGill University, both in Economics. He was a provincial civil servant from 1986 to 1992, working for both Progressive Conservative and New Democratic Party governments on tax policy, federal-provincial relations and environmental policy. He left in 1992, disappointed with the government's environmental direction. He received a law degree from the University of Manitoba in 1995, and ran an independent law practice for several years before joining the downtown Winnipeg law firm of Tupper & Adams in 2004. His practice consists mainly of civil litigation. In late 2006, he moved to the firm of Pullan Kammerloch Frohlinger.