A native of Hamilton, Percy McDonald graduated from McGill in 1913 in Civil Engineering but never practiced this profession. He became a war photographer with W.J. Johnson during the First World War. In 1923, McDonald earned a degree in dentistry from the University of Toronto and practiced dentistry until the outbreak of World War II, when he again took up military photography.

Sources: [https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/percy-ellicott-mcdonald-fonds](https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/percy-ellicott-mcdonald-fonds)