 Kinley was an engineering graduate of Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Technical College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.He has practiced professional engineering in business and the community for more than 50 years in executive positions at Lunenburg Foundry & Engineering Co. Ltd. and Lunenburg Marine Railway.He was the Honorary Chair for Life of the Nova Scotia Branch of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, a former chair the Offshore Trade Association of Nova Scotia and a former director of the Canadian Foundry Association.