She has worked as a professor in visual studies since 1989 at York University. However, her career as a filmmaker started in the 1970s with experimental films, but by the 1980s Nicol’s work focused on documentary film addressing political issues including pro-choice struggles for access to abortion, unions, and the working struggles of women and migrants. By the 2000s her films changed focus to the history of lesbian and gay rights from the 1970s to the 2010s.