Robertson began working part-time when he was 13 years old. He has bragged about being named employee of the month at his local Wendy’s in July 1985 (he considers this his life’s greatest accomplishment). He also answered phones at a CAA office. Robertson appeared in the music video for “All We Are” by Kim Mitchell from Mitchell’s 1985 album Akimbo Alogo.

Robertson’s brother Doug died after crashing his motorcycle in June 1993. The experience affected Ed, which came through in his songwriting. The song “Am I The Only One?” from the 1994 Barenaked Ladies album Maybe You Should Drive, which he had been writing about his then-future wife, ended up being about the loss of his brother; the song “Leave” from 1998’s Stunt is about the image of his brother haunting him in hotel rooms while on tour; and the song “Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel” from 2000’s Maroon was based on Robertson’s curiosity about what his brother was thinking about in his last moments. His mother died on December 13, 2008 at age 72, and his father died on June 10, 2011 at the age of 76. Robertson wrote the song “Moonstone” about his mother passing away. It was recorded during the All in Good Time sessions, and although it was not included in the basic album, it was released as a bonus track.

Robertson was the second member of Barenaked Ladies to get married, and the first to have children. He married his longtime girlfriend, Natalie Herbert, in June 1994. They had their first child, Hannah on November 17, 1995; their second child, Lyle was born September 29, 1999; and their third child, Arden was born August 7, 2002. As the first in the band to have children, he was also one of the first to advocate for spending less time touring and more time at home with family. When he is not working with Barenaked Ladies, Robertson prefers to spend as much time as he can with his family in Toronto, or at their Bancroft-area cottage.

In 2002, Robertson won an International Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto for the song “Pinch Me” that he co-wrote with Steven Page.

From 2004, Robertson voiced the occasionally recurring character of Captain Butch Flowers/Agent Florida in the web series Red vs. Blue.

Robertson received his pilot’s license in 2005, and the 2007 season of Ed’s Up was purportedly designed around his attempting to earn his floatplane license. He also rides a motorcycle, which he has taken on some of the band’s tours in the past to ride during off-time.

In 2006, Robertson began starring in Ed’s Up for OLN Canada. The program covers his journeys by plane to various locations given to him only in the form of GPS coordinates. At these locations, he learns about and participates in a local occupation. The series premiered on November 1, 2006; Robertson filmed a second season in the summer of 2007, which premiered on November 7. A third season was filmed over the summer of 2008.

In 2008, Ed Robertson guest co-hosted Daily Planet on Discovery Channel for several weeks while one of the regular hosts was away.

At 12:30 pm on August 24, 2008, Robertson was involved in a plane crash while piloting his amphibious Cessna 206, north of Bancroft, Ontario. He and his three passengers walked away from the crash with no apparent injuries. The Transport Canada Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report (CADOR) indicated that the crash occurred after take-off from Baptiste Lake when Robertson apparently lost airspeed and settled into the trees approximately 300 metres in from the shoreline. The Transportation Safety Board handled the investigation. After several weeks, the TSB was unable to determine a cause of the crash, but cleared Robertson of any misconduct. Additionally, no evidence of mechanical problems was found. Investigator Ray Simpson reported that the investigation was unlikely to produce any further results, and had therefore been essentially closed. Simpson added that undetectable air currents could have been the cause of the crash, but there is no evidence for or against the possibility. He commended Robertson for being “outstanding” in his cooperation with the investigation.

He can be seen in a handful of season 8 and 9 episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation as the music teacher, Mr. Fowler, which aired new in 2009 on Canada’s CTV and TeenNick in the States.

In April 2009, Robertson was recognized for his interest in aviation and the Canadian military by being named Honorary Colonel of 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron of the Canadian Forces. Following the signing, HCol Robertson said that the investiture was “the most incredible honour” he has received. “I have always been thoroughly blown away by the incredible work of our military,” he said. “It’s a day I thought I would never see come. When I got the letter from the Defence Minister, I was, like, ‘This is real; I am actually going to be an honorary colonel!’” Robertson held the position until March 2012, noting that, although he had not been able to be around as much as he would have liked, the Squadron felt like family to him.

Robertson is fan of video games, and claims to have had almost every console system released since he was a child. He usually brings several consoles and many games on tour with him. Robertson is a fan of the popular Rooster Teeth series Red vs. Blue, lending his voice to the series to voice Captain Butch Flowers, during a time travel episode in the third season. Originally for a one-off episode, Flowers was re-introduced late in the fifth season, four episodes before the season finale. Flowers later made an appearance in the season finale of the tenth season. Rooster Teeth Productions has also made special videos, using Red vs. Blue characters, to be shown at Barenaked Ladies shows. In February 2009, he starred as Captain Dynamic, in Rooster Teeth Productions live action mini-series, Captain Dynamic, which promotes the video game City of Heroes.

On May 29, 2012, Robertson was the guest co-host on the U.S. television morning talk show, Live with Kelly.

Robertson collaborated with astronaut and musician Chris Hadfield in writing a brand new song for Music Monday 2013. Music Monday is a Canadian event to spread the importance of music education. The song, written by Ed and Chris, premiered on February 7, 2013 with Chris joining in from the International Space Station.

Robertson is an avid pinball player and collector. The title of Barenaked Ladies 2015 album “Silverball” reflects this, and the music video for the title track was filmed in Robertson’s own collection of 10 pinball machines. In February 2016 Ed appeared on the popular Twitch pinball stream “Bro, Do You Even Pinball?” where he talked about his love for the game and competed against the shows’ hosts from Buffalo Pinball.