Jacqueline Samuda was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and grew up in both the United States and Canada. She received a B.F.A. Degree in Performance from York University in Toronto, and apprenticed at the prestigious Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the Lake, Ontario. She received an Ontario Arts Council Grant for Individual Professional Development to observe theatre development in New York City, where she lived from 1987-1989. She received a Dramalogue Award in 1994 for directing George F. Walker's play, "Zastrozzi, " at Company of Angels Theatre in Los Angeles, where she lived from 1992-1998.