Although educated and brought up in a strong European tradition and background, Fairley's important life's scholarship in German literature and art criticism was done in Canada and was about Canadian art and Canadian culture. His perspective and writings strongly influenced a burgeoning academic and artistic culture in his new chosen home. He was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire and died, a Canadian citizen, in his home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was educated at Leeds, and in 1907 was granted a Ph.D. from Jena University in Germany. His first academic appointment was at Jena. Between 1910-15, he joined the faculty at the newly founded University of Alberta in Edmonton. He joined the University of Toronto's German department in 1915 where he taught until the end of his career as a professor. In 1949, he was invited to Bryn Mawr College to deliver lectures on the German poetJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, but was barred entry by the U.S. Department of Justice. He later compiled the texts of the abortive lectures into six essays on Faust. In 1978, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his "unique contribution to Canadian scholarship". Barker Fairley spent almost all of his professional artistic life in Ontario, where he was also mentor and teacher to Charles Meanwell and Vincent Thomas. Many of his paintings are still owned by the University of Toronto and are in the Hart House collection. In his use of colour and form, the effect of the Group of Seven is quite evident. His critical approach and activism regarding The Group of Seven contributed to their acceptance in Canadian Art, and that his scholaristic influence over University College at the University of Toronto left a strong and lasting impression. His first wife, Margaret Fairley, was a notable Canadian political activist. His daughter Ann Schabas was dean of the Faculty of Library and Information Science at the University of Toronto. Her husband is musician Ezra Schabas, former dean of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Barker Fairley's grandchildren include academics William Schabas, Margaret Schabas, and lawyer Paul Schabas.
