His mother was descended from French Huguenots who had settled and developed Chatsworth, and his father was of English descent.
After graduating from the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute he spent a year as principal of the school in Chatsworth.
[3] There he studied geology under Arthur Philemon Coleman and earned a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in 1904.
[2] He spent his first 15 years engaged in field work producing geologic maps, mostly of the Canadian Shield,[4] with a particular focus on the Huronian Supergroup.
In his 1975 book Reading the Rocks, historian Morris Zaslow blamed this on poor leadership by Collins, alleging specifically micromanagement, political ineptitude, and narrow vision.
Gussow attributed the Survey's later troubles to budget cuts in 1930 under Prime Minister R. B. Bennett prompted by the Great Depression.
[2] Collins suffered health problems long before his death, undergoing a major operation as early as 1926.