Jacques Trépanier was born on September 28, 1907, in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Trépanier was the son of the journalist and historian Léon Trépanier and Anne-Marie Gagnon. After attending primary school in Montreal, he attended Collège du Sacré-Cœur in Sudbury, Ontario, where he graduated in 1929. He studied law at Université de Montréal and was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1934. After practicing law in Montreal for some time, the economic crisis prompted him to leave for Abitibi where he worked in the mines. He then decided to enter the Merchant Marines where he remained for a period of 26 months. Trépanier married Yvette Clerk on September 29, 1937, with whom he had five children: François, Maurice, Hélène, Josette and Micheline. It was in this same year that he began his career in journalism, writing first for La Patrie in Montreal, and subsequently for L'Action catholique and Le Soleil in Québec City. In 1942 Trépanier was hired by the Royal Canadian Navy as head of the French language Naval Information Service. He was then transfered to London, where he would report from until the end of the war. After his demobilization in 1946, he returned to write for the newspaper La Patrie, where he would alternate between covering the Port of Montreal and Montreal night clubs. He also covered general news for the paper. In 1954, Trépanier was transferred to Quebec City, where he worked as a correspondent for La Patrie. He was later appointed to the position of parliamentary correspondent for the same paper. Trépanier returned to Montreal in 1959 to work as the Head of Information for La Patrie. Later, he worked for Le Devoir, Montréal-Matin, and the Canadian Press Agency. At the end of the 1960s, he returned once again to Quebec City as the Director of Public Relations for the Conseil des producteurs de pâtes et papiers du Québec and as head of their paper, Le Papetier. He worked for the Conseil des producteurs de pâtes et papiers du Québec for about 15 years before retiring. Trépanier died in Montreal on June 21, 2003.