Andre Provencher, Veteran Quebec Media Exec, Dies at 76

Andre Provencher, a giant of Quebec media in TV, publishing, radio and digital media, has died. He was 76.

“He passed away surrounded by his loved ones, without too much suffering. It’s a big loss for us,” Provencher’s wife, Rachel Martinez, told La Presse, the leading Quebec newspaper, after her husband died on Jan. 1 in Montreal after a short battle with cancer.

Suzanne Guèvremont, government film commissioner and chair of the National Film Board of Canada, where Provencher served on its board of trustees for seven years, added in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter: “Andre was a great defender of the importance of culture in our society, of intellectual property, and of the Francophonie. I will miss the insightful and passionate conversations I had with him. Andre was a man of heart, generous and profoundly human. Thank you for everything, Andre.”

Born in Baie-du-Febvre, Quebec, Provencher began his media career in the early 1970s in newspapers, initially with theCourrier Sud, at age 18.

“We did everything at the newspaper. It really cultivated resourcefulness. We became multi-skilled and multi-talented. The newspaper layout, at the time, wasn’t done on a computer, but with glue. Then, we would leave with boxes towards the printing plant, located at the time in Arthabaska,” Provencher recalled in a July 2025 interview with Courrier Sud.

That newspaper gig opened the way for Provencher to branch out to other areas of the French-speaking media in Quebec, including the TVA Group, Télé-Québec and the cable giant Cogeco. As a television producer, Provencher launched La Presse Télé, the maker of popular series likeLes Parent(which has been adapted widely internationally),Les chefs! andEn direct de l’univers.

As a newspaper editor, he also led the titles Le Nouvelliste and Le Soleil into the digital age. In 2011, Provencher as president and CEO led the launch of the $100 million Quebec Cultural Capital Fund to develop and invest in cultural projects in partnership with the Quebec provincial government, with an eye to international export of homegrown content.

Provencher served on a host of company boards, including for the World Newspaper Association, the Television and Cable Distribution Fund, TV5 Québec-Canada, the Quebec Film and Television Producers Association, INIS and private companies like Vivavision, Sarbakan and Alliance Vivafilm.

He also received a slew of awards and distinctions over his career, including theQueen’s Silver Jubilee Medal, theUniversité du Québec à Trois-Rivièresaward, theRaphaël Prize from the Séminaire de Nicolet and GeminiandCanPro awards. Provencher is survived by his wife, Rachel Martinez, and their three children, Paul, Bruno and François.