Born into a prominent English Protestant family in Montreal, Nora Collyer was a student of Maurice Cullen and William Brymner.

She was a key member of the Beaver Hall Group, the first Canadian artists association in which women played a leading role. Collyer joined the group in 1920, sharing a studio with Anne Savage. In her book The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters, Evelyn Walters writes of Collyer: "Her technique is never harsh, and is remarkable for its shapes, rich colour, and soft rhythms."

Collyer spent her summers sketching and gardening, and it is at her summer home near Lake Memphremagog where she painted her best landscapes, where often a farm or church were made to be the focal point of her composition.

In addition to being an artist, Collyer was an educator, teaching art at institutions such as the Art Association of Montreal and the Trafalgar girls' school.