Walter Barfoot was born in Collingwood, Ontario on October 17, 1893, the youngest son of Robert Barfoot. He studied at Wycliffe College in 1913, but enlisted in the Officers' Training Corps after the outbreak of the First World War. On January 16, 1916, he was granted a temporary commission as Second Lieutenant in the Second Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1918. Barfoot was ordained Deacon in 1922, and Priest a year later in Toronto. He served as the Rector in Melita, Manitoba from 1923 to 1924, and held the position of both Tutor from 1926 to 1933 and professor from 1933 to 1934 at Emmanuel College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At St. John's College, he served as a professor from 1934 to 1935, and Warden from 1935 to 1941. He became Canon of St. John's Cathedral and Examining Chaplain to the Archbishop of Rupert's Land in 1934 and held both positions until 1941, when he was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Edmonton. He was Primate of All Canada from 1951 to 1958. In 1953, he Translated to Rupert's Land and was elected Metropolitan. He served as Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land from 1954 to 1961.He was awarded the Canterbury Degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1958. He retired in 1961 and moved to British Columbia. He died on June 28, 1978 and is buried in an Edmonton Cemetery. He married Lorena Richardson in 1942.