Gord was born in Collingwood (about 40 minutes from Angus) and lived in the area until he was in grade 6 when the family moved to the northern New Brunswick paper mill town of Dalhousie. His father, Reverend Ralph MacKenzie, presided over the Angus Presbyterian Church from 1965 to 1967.

Gord returned to Ontario to attend Carleton University in Ottawa in 1980. In 1985 he received a B.A. (High Honours) from Carleton and in 1988 received his LL.B. (Cum Laude) from the University of Ottawa.

Since being called to the bar in 1990, Gord has practiced in smaller communities surrounding Barrie: first in Stroud (South of Barrie) and in Angus since 1998.