Complementing a vocal performance career in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s, he was a member of the faculty of music at McGill University in Montreal and a long-time teacher and general director at the summer music camp of Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens Amateurs du Canada (CAMMAC).

[1][2] After graduating from high school, he studied voice in New York City with Emilio de Gogorza, then returned to Canada to attend The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto on a scholarship, where he studied with Emmy Heim and Ernesto Vinci.

[1][2] Simons taught voice in the Faculty of Music at McGill University from 1961 to 1993,[1] continuing to teach song interpretation as well as vocal technique privately until his death.

[1] He received the Opus Prix Hommage from the Conseil québécois de la musique in 2005.

[1][2] He is the father of six children,[2] including Nicholas Simons, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.