Born in Chatham (now Chatham-Kent), Ontario, Canada, McVicar attended the University of Michigan Law School and read law to enter the bar in 1896.

[1] McVicar received a recess appointment from President Calvin Coolidge on September 14, 1928, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge W. H. Seward Thomson.

He was nominated to the same position by President Coolidge on December 6, 1928.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1928, and received his commission the same day.

His service terminated on December 20, 1960, due to his death in Tarentum.