Jordan was born the youngest of seven children to George and Hannah Jordan (née Taylor) in Marlbank, Ontario. His father, George, was a longtime municipal politician in Hungerford Township and ran unsuccessfully in the riding of East Hastings for the Liberals in the 1948 provincial election.
He was educated in Marlbank, Tweed and at Regiopolis in Kingston, and attended teacher"s college in 1949 following completion of Grade 13.
His career had been in education as a teacher and administrator. He began his teaching career at CFB Petawawa, eventually rising to the position of principal after eight years. He then accepted a position of school inspector in the Lanark, Leeds and Grenville area.
In 1969 he became the first director of education for the Lanark, Leeds and Grenville School Board.
He retired from the education field in 1985, and subsequently began to pursue a career in politics. Jordan was an Ontario Liberal Party candidate in the 1987 provincial election, losing by fewer than 200 votes to Progressive Conservative incumbent Bob Runciman.
He then chose to contest the 1988 federal election, defeating incumbent Member of Parliament Jennifer Cossitt by over 2,000 votes. He was re-elected in the 1993 election, and retired in 1997.
This marked the first time in Canadian history that a son had directly succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for the same constituency.
Jim Jordan is the father of seven boys: Doctor David Jordan, Bob Jordan, Paul Jordan, Joe Jordan, Tom Jordan, Mike Jordan, and Doctor Andy Jordan. Jordan is the grandfather of 17 grandchildren, two great granddaughters and two great grandsons. Jordan campaigned for federal funding to support the construction of the Highway 416 superhighway between Ottawa and Highway 401.
