André Chagnon (1928-2022) *94

was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was noted for being the founder of telecommunications company Vidéotron. Chagnon was born in the Ahuntsic neighbourhood of Montreal on 17 March 1928. His father worked as an electrician and entrepreneur. Chagnon was raised near Gouin Boulevard during the Great Depression, and recounted how his family survived on "a lot of bread and molasses". He attended the École technique de Montréal [fr] from 1945 to 1949. Chagnon became an electrician like his father and began his work career by laying underground cables for the City of Montreal. He eventually started his own contracting company – E. R. Chagnon et Fils – in 1957, when he was 29. He later sold it to his employees. In 1964, he founded the cable company Le Groupe Vidéotron. Under his leadership, the company adopted an acquisition-based growth strategy, starting with the purchase of Câblevision Nationale in 1980. It went on to acquire Télé-Métropole six years later. This was ultimately sold when the company bought CF Cable in 1997. Vidéotron was also listed on the Montreal Exchange in 1985, and established a branch in London in 1988, before branching into the United States five years later. These moves led to Vidéotron becoming Canada's third-largest telecommunications company and the largest in Quebec.

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