Joseph Pettick was born in Nyirparasnya, Hungary on October 8, 1924. His family immigrated to Kipling, Saskatchewan in 1927 and settled in Regina in 1929. Pettick completed his primary and secondary school education in Regina. During The Second World War, Pettick worked, from 1939 to 1942, as a machinist and tool designer for Regina Industries Ltd. in the manufacture of anti-tank guns. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served as a stoker aboard the HMCS Stone Town engaged in convoy duty in the North Atlantic.

Pettick's architectural career began in 1946 as an apprentice with Portnall & Stock Architects. He was registered as an architect with the Saskatchewan Association of Architects in 1954 and started his own firm, Joseph Pettick Architect Ltd., that same year. In 1955, Pettick attended the School of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, where he studied Aesthetic Design, City Planning, and Structural and Mechanical Engineering. In 1996, Pettick enlarged his business by forming P3 Architecture (Pettick Phillips Partners Architects Ltd.) in partnership with Colin Phillips.

As of 2005, Pettick had executed over 1000 commissions, either as sole practitioner or as a member of a partnership. His buildings define the skyline of Regina, the most recognizable being the SaskPower Building (1963), City Hall (1976), the SaskTel Building, and the Bank of Montreal (1981).

Pettick received special recognition for his accomplishments including a Massey Medal for Architecture (1961); election to the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1967); the naming of the shelter and administrative premises of the Regina Humane Society “The Joseph Pettick Animal Shelter” (1983); the B.O.M.A. Award for Design for the Bank of Montreal provincial office building (1988); election to Life Membership, Saskatchewan Association of Architects (2002); an honourary Life Membership, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2004); an Honorary Life Member, Regina Construction Association (2005); an Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Regina (2005); and the investiture into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (2005).

Pettick sat on various boards and associations, both locally and nationally including: the Saskatchewan Association of Architects; the Regina Housing Authority; the Structural Advisory Group of the National Research Council; the Saskatchewan Construction Council; the Saskatchewan Design Council and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. His interest in societal issues produced numerous treatises and publications related to governmental reform, nuclear energy, and northern development.

Pettick died in Regina on September 12, 2010.