After a three-year career in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) with the Burlington Cougars, Bieksa was awarded a scholarship to Bowling Green State University.

After a 13-point regular season in 35 games as a freshman, he helped the Falcons become the lowest-seeded team in League history (ninth) to advance to the CCHA semifinals.

[5] He earned an honourable mention to the All-CCHA Team and received the Falcons' Howard Brown Award as the coaches' selection for best player.

[4] Following his college career, Bieksa signed an amateur tryout contract with the Manitoba Moose, the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, on March 24, 2004.

According to then-Canucks general manager Brian Burke, several Moose players had gone out together when Bieksa accidentally spilled Fedorov's beer.

[11] Canucks assistant general manager Steve Tambellini lauded Bieksa for his quick adjustment and development from college hockey to the AHL.

[11] During the campaign, he was given the nickname "Juice" by Moose goaltender Alex Auld, a moniker that continued into his NHL career with the Canucks.

[16] While sidelined, Bieksa was named an alternate captain to Mike Keane by Moose head coach Alain Vigneault on October 29.

[21] He remained with the Canucks until near the end of the season, as he was reassigned to the Moose on April 8 to make room for the return of Ed Jovanovski from injury.

[24] Bieksa rapidly developed into one of the Canucks' top blueliners and finished the season leading all team defencemen with 30 assists, 42 points and 134 penalty minutes,[25] while also tallying a career-high 12 goals.

[27] The Canucks acknowledged Bieksa's break-out sophomore season by re-signing him to a three-year, $11.25 million contract extension, on July 9, 2007.

[33] He continued rehabilitating his calf in the 2008 off-season, after the Canucks failed to qualify for the 2008 playoffs, admitting that his leg had not fully recovered upon his early return.

[35] Despite missing ten games in total, Bieksa established an impressive career-high 32 assists along with 11 goals for 43 points, first among team defencemen.

[36] Without a no-trade clause in his contract with the Canucks and seen as an emerging offensive defencemen throughout the NHL, Bieksa was routinely the subject of trade rumours.

[37] In the 2009 off-season, one such trade rumour was central in a feud between general managers Mike Gillis of Vancouver and Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[38] On a Leafs TV documentary on the 2009 NHL entry draft that aired in September 2009, a segment involves Burke speculating that the Canucks had offered Bieksa to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a package that included forward Alexandre Burrows and a first-round draft-choice in exchange for Tampa Bay's second-overall selection.

During a game against the Phoenix Coyotes on December 29, 2009, he bodychecked opposing forward Petr Průcha, whose skate cut into his left leg, above the ankle.

[44] Following the defensive acquisitions of Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis in free agency in the 2010 off-season, Bieksa was once again involved in trade rumours.

Despite being several million dollars over the salary cap, general manager Mike Gillis asserted after signing Hamhuis that the Canucks were "keeping Bieksa.

"[45] During the 2010–11 season, Bieksa's offensive production decreased, but he was lauded by the media and head coach Alain Vigneault for improving his defensive game.

[35] Playing on a shutdown defensive pairing with Dan Hamhuis,[48][49] his season-ending +32 plus-minus established a personal best and ranked second in the NHL, one point behind Boston Bruins defenceman and captain Zdeno Chára.

On April 19, during game four in the first round of the playoffs against the eighth-seeded and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, in which the Canucks lost 7–2, Bieksa drew controversy after picking a fight with Blackhawks' forward Viktor Stålberg out of frustration after a trio of hits Stålberg laid on Bieksa himself along with teammates Maxim Lapierre and Keith Ballard, respectively.

[57] The Canucks would eventually go on to win the series in five games against the second-seeded Sharks to earn a spot on the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994.

[61][62] Having played the final year of his existing contract, Bieksa addressed his pending unrestricted free agency by telling the media he was ready to re-sign for less than market value in order to remain with the Canucks.

At one point he was listed online as an undefeated fighter with well over 30 NHL fights as reported by Scott Oake of Hockey Night in Canada.

[78] Bieksa along with teammates Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows and Maxim Lapierre were known as four of the most fierce competitors of their time in the NHL – all four players were a huge driving force behind the Canucks' 2011 Stanley Cup Finals run and in their two Presidents' Trophy-winning seasons.

[91] Bieksa began playing minor hockey in Grimsby before joining AAA teams in Stoney Creek, Ontario.

[91] After attending Blessed Trinity Secondary School in his hometown,[91] he graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in finance and a 3.42 grade point average (GPA).

[93] During Bieksa's tenure with both the Manitoba Moose and Vancouver Canucks, he became close friends with teammate Rick Rypien, who died by suicide in August 2011 after years of clinical depression.

Katie published a book in July 2017 titled Newport Jane, which is a semi-autobiographical story of a woman adjusting to a new life in California, that was inspired by Bieksa's trade from Vancouver to Anaheim in June 2015.