Roberts studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal and at the Art Students League of New York with John Sloan, Boardman Robinson and Max Weber (1926–1928).
[1] He moved to Ottawa in 1930, where he exhibited his work, and opened a summer school for painting in nearby Wakefield, in the Gatineau Valley.
During the period from 1943 to 1945 he was an Official Second World War artist for the Royal Canadian Air Force, stationed in England.
[2] In 1952, works by Roberts along with those of Emily Carr, David Milne and Alfred Pellan represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.
[6] Following his death after a lengthy illness, his work was the subject of several museum solo exhibitions with publications, including a touring retrospective in 1998 titled Goodridge Roberts Revealed, curated by Sandra Paikowsky.