John William Hopkins was born on September 19, 1825, in Liverpool, England.

He studied architecture in England. In 1852, he moved to Montreal where he created a firm with architects James Nelson and Frederick Lawford (Hopkins, Lawford and Nelson, architects). In 1860, he began to practise on his own. He designed the former Customs Building at Pointe-à-Callière (1863) and the Crystal Palace on Victoria Street (1866), both now demolished. In 1869, he joined forces with architect Daniel B. Wily (Hopkins and Wily). Together they designed the Shaw Building (1869), the Exchange-Bank Building (1874), and the Art Association of Montreal's art gallery, which was to become the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In 1879, Hopkins' son, Edward C., joined the company and they remained partners until 1896. Their plans included the Waddell Building (1884) and the Montreal-Street-Railway Building (1893-1895). Hopkins was the first president of the Association des Architectes de la Province de Québec in 1890.

In 1852, he married Margaret Elizabeth Tilley. He died on December 11, 1905, in Montreal, Quebec.

Edward Colis Hopkins, son of the prominent Montreal architect John W. Hopkins, was born on January 21, 1857, in Montreal, Quebec.

He trained under his father with whom he formed a partnership in 1879 (J.W. & E.C. Hopkins). He worked in Boston from 1894 to 1896 and in Quebec City from 1896 to 1904 with George E. Tanguay. He designed the ice palace in Montreal for Canada’s Governor-General Marquess of Lorne. Shortly after the death of his father in 1905, Edward moved to Calgary where he became associated with a successful architect William M. Dodd. In 1906, he moved to Edmonton to take up the position of Provincial Architect for Alberta. In 1907, he resigned from this position and became a partner in the firm of Magoon, Hopkins & James. In 1908, their office was called Hopkins & James, and in 1909, Hopkins formed another partnership with Edmund Wright which was dissolved within a year. He started his own practice specializing in the design of large commercial and industrial warehouse buildings. His best-known work is a large block called The Boardwalk, a brusque Romanesque Revival warehouse clad in brick and stone originally built for Ross Brothers Hardware Company. In 1910, he was elected President of the Alberta Association of Architects.

In 1885, he married Emma Jane Blow. He died on August 18, 1941, in Edmonton, Alberta.