Architect Clifford Wiens was born in Saskatchewan in 1926. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1954. In 1957 he became a registered architect in Saskatchewan, and set up practice in Regina under the firm name Clifford Wiens Architect Ltd. On September 5, 1970 the name of the firm was changed to Wiens and Associates Ltd. It became Wiens Johnstone Architects Ltd. from 1981 to 1986. From 1986 until 1995, he practiced as "Clifford Wiens Architect Ltd." Then moving to Vancouver he has continued to practice as "Clifford Wiens Architect". In 2010 he was given life membership in the Saskatchewan Association of Architects.

As an architect, Wiens created numerous public, private, residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and projects throughout Saskatchewan, including schools, houses, apartments, stores, campsites and picnic shelters, motels, churches, and heritage restoration projects. His work has earned several awards such as three Massey Awards Silver Medals in 1967 and 1970, two National Design Council of Canada Awards in 1967, and a City of Regina Heritage Award in 1983. In 2011 he received the award of the century for the design of the Heating and Cooling Plant at the University of Regina, known as the PRIX du XXe Siecle Award.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and formerly a registered architect in the United Kingdom (1975).

He taught architecture and design as a visiting professor at the University of Manitoba (1968), the University of Calgary (1977), and the University of British Columbia (1985), the University of Arizona (1990) and the Arizona State University (1995). He has also lectured at the University of Saskatchewan (1966-1967), and North Dakota State University (1970).

He has served on juries for various architectural competitions, and his work has been widely published in architectural journals and reference books. He was active in local and national professional organizations, serving the Saskatchewan Association of Architects as president (1970) and council member (1967-1973), the Regina Chapter of Architects as president and past president (1960-1969), and the Canada Department of Public Works as a member of the Advisory Committee on Art for Public Buildings, 1974-1981.