Cyrille Vaillancourt was a journalist, civil servant, businessman and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. Vaillancourt played an important role in the development of the caisses populaires in Quebec. He represented La Durantaye division in the Legislative Council of Quebec

Legislative Council of Quebec

From 1867 until 1968, the Legislative Council of Quebec was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec...

 from 1943 to 1944 and sat for Kennebec division in the Senate of Canada from 1944 to 1969 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

.

He was born in Saint-Anselme, Quebec

Saint-Anselme, Quebec

Saint-Anselme is a village of 3,200 people in the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region. It is the second biggest municipality in the RCM, after Saint-Henri. The Etchemin River goes through the village....

, the son of Cyrille-Émile Vaillancourt and Marie-Louise Larochelle, and was educated at the Collège de Lévis and the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

. Vaillancourt worked for the Étoile du Nord at Joliette before serving in the Quebec Department of Agriculture, responsible for the areas of beekeeping

Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...

 and maple syrup

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...

 production. He became director for the Caisse-Populaire at Lévis

Lévis, Quebec

Lévis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western Lévis with Quebec City. The Société de transport de...

 in 1924, then was vice-president from 1929 to 1932 and administrator from 1929 to 1969. From 1927 to 1963, he was general manager for the regional federation of caisses populaires for Quebec district. He was the first president of the Fédération des caisses populaires for the province of Quebec. Vaillancourt also served as president of Assurance-vie Desjardins, the Association Coopérative Desjardins and the Société de Gestion Aubigny.

Vaillancourt was honorary lieutenant-colonel and then honorary colonel in the militia. He served on the school board for Lévis from 1927 to 1961. He was president of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul

The St Vincent de Paul Society is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need. Active in England & Wales since 1844, today it continues to address social and material need in all...

 at Lévis. He was named a commander in the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 in 1944 and a commander in the Order of St. Gregory the Great

Order of St. Gregory the Great

The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...

in 1947.

He established the following periodicals:

• l'Abeille (later l'Abeille et l'érable) in 1918
• la Caisse populaire Desjardins (later la Revue Desjardins) in 1934

With Albert Faucher, he published Alphonse Desjardins Pionnier de la coopération d'épargne et de crédit en Amérique in 1950.

He was married twice: to Maria Ferland in 1916 and to Marie-Blanche Normandin, dit Lajoie in 1920.

Vaillancourt resigned from the Senate on January 3, 1969 due to ill health. He died at Lévis on October 30 of the same year, at the age of 77.