Bronskill holds Musicae Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Music) and Master of Music degrees in Composition from the University of Toronto. He began orchestrating and composing films in the 1980s. The first film he orchestrated was the Academy Award-nominated 1987 drama The Dead, which featured Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Colm Meaney and his then-wife, Star Trek: Voyager guest star Bairbre Dowling.