Erica Durance was born in Calgary, Canada. Her father Joel was a truck driver, and her mother Gail was a librarian. Durance grew up with an older brother and sister on a turkey farm in Three Hills. After school, she moved to Vancouver to start her acting career.
Durance started her career in commercials and guest-starring roles on different television series. In 2004 she was cast as Lois Lane on the television series Smallville. In 2012, Durance was cast to played the lead role as Dr Alex Reid in the television medical drama Saving Hope.