Eric Adams was born in Hull, Québec and earned his Engineering degree from McGill University in 1929 and later earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard in 1931. When he was apprehended by the RCMP in February 1946, Adams worked at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa. The espionage commission concluded that Adams had led a 'study group' where he encouraged members to share confidential information that they had acquired from work. Most of the commission's evidence was based on testimony provided by one of Adam's alleged informant, Kathleen Willisher. When he was confronted with documents from the Soviet embassy and Willisher's testimony, Adams claimed that he could not recall the events of which the commission referred to. Despite having been acquitted at trial, the commission's final report credits Adams as having played a central role in the Soviet's espionage activities in Canada. He was soon dismissed from the Bank of Canada.

The following biography comes from the espionage commission's final report:

"Adams was born in Hull, Québec, (his father had been born in the United Stares, his mother in Canada), and he graduated in Engineering from McGill University in 1929 and subsequently from Harvard in 1931 with the degree, Master of Business Administration. In 1934 he made a trip to Europe, spending from six weeks to two months in Russia. After some intermediate employment with Canadian concerns he went to New York where he remained in the employ of a firm of consulting engineers until 1939 when he went to Toronto and set up practice there as an engineer.
In November, 1940, Adams went to Ottawa, entered the employ of the Department of Munitions and Supply and was immediately loaned to the Wartime Requirements Board as Technical Adviser. Here he remained until March 22, 1941."