Born and raised in Durban, South Africa , she became a popular young star through the teen-oriented Fox Family series Higher Ground (along with Hayden Christensen), as well as the NBC's Saturday-morning series Just Deal. She scored a lead role with her first ever audition, playing opposite Lou Diamond Phillips in the 1999 telefilm In a Class of His Own. She has gone on to star through her recurring character Elizabeth Munroe on Showtime's Jeremiah, and as Lieutenant Anastasia "Dee" Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica.

Born in South Africa and as of 2005 living in Vancouver, British Columbia, McClure also won acclaim from a host of major newspaper critics for her role as Sue Snell in the 2002 telefilm remake of Stephen King's Carrie.

In support of the Babz Chula Lifeline for Artists Society, which is raising money for their friend and fellow Canadian actor Chula's cancer treatment, McClure and her Battlestar Galactica colleague Tahmoh Penikett are currently (as of April 2008) auctioning off the opportunity to have dinner with both of them in Vancouver.

In 2003, the cult series Battlestar Galactica was brought back to life, in a re-imagined form, as a three-hour (two part) miniseries. The project was written and produced by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Michael Rymer. Kandyse McClure starred as Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, a Petty Officer Second Class in the Colonial Fleet. The miniseries effectively served as pilot for a potential TV series. A series was then commissioned in a collaborative effort between the American Sci-Fi Channel and Sky TV (the British broadcaster). Battlestar Galactica is filmed mostly in Vancouver, Canada, and is currently in its final fourth season, in which Kandyse McClure is a regular cast member.

Her character did not feature in the original 1978 series.