He was educated at Dundas District High School, Mohawk College and the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, and worked at McMaster University in laboratory medicine from 1979 until his retirement in 2007.

[1] In 2003, the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) named a bridge on the west-end Rail Trail crossing Binkley Hollow and the Ancaster Creek for Powers.

[2] In 2004, Powers resigned mid-term from his city council seat to run for Member of Parliament in the newly created riding of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale.

Though he declined to run again, Powers opted to endorse former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Brad Clark for mayor in Hamilton's 2014 election.

[4] Since declining to seek the Liberal nomination for Parliament in 2015, Powers has spent his retirement involved in local volunteer organizations.