Seiko Champion

It’s been a while since I lamented the lack of watchmaking (or even simple watch repair) eduction in Canada. I know the mechanical watch market is still a relatively small business, but I can speak from both personal experience and from lots of stories from friends, there is much more of a need than there are people to meet it.

At the time I mentioned that the last watchmaking school in Ontario had closed down. There is still one left in Canada however, at the prosaically named “Centre de formation professionnelle Bel-Avenir” in Trois-Rivières in Quebec.


Image from Tick Tock


Trois-Rivières is a town of about 130,000 people situated half-way between Montreal and Quebec City, on the north side of the St. Lawrence River. It is not what you would call a large metropolis, but large enough. It is primarily French-speaking, but bilingual enough so that somebody who speaks English but not French, could happily call it home. It also has a bit of history, having been founded in 1634.

The last surviving watchmaking school in Canada, located here, also has a bit of history. From an old article in Alliance Horlogere…

The National School of Horology was founded on March 4, 1946, by Jacques Giroux; who also served as the school’s first professor. The first pupils were exclusively veterans of the Second World War. The work was ideal for veterans who were bound to wheelchairs or had in some way lost the use of their lower extremities, as the work could be performed entirely while sitting. The candidate needed only to have good eyesight and adept manual dexterity. It was special funding from the government, to help these veterans re-integrate themselves into useful roles in society, that greatly helped the school to establish itself in its primary years.

To give you an idea of how “below the radar” this school is, the organization it is part of, the Center of Professional Training (CFP) Bel Avenir is actually the name for what used to be called Holy-Ursule Catholic Secondary School. And even better, the department is located third floor of a primary school building. Yes that’s right, it’s a college level program run out by an ex vocational high school, located in an unused part of an elementary school dormitory. Amazing, you can’t make up a story like that.



For an interesting behind-the-scenes perspective, read this post from a past student about his experiences at the school.

I undertook two diplomas of study at Canada’s last remaining horological school in Trois-Rivières, Québèc, and graduated with honours among my class of seven. While the program certainly has its weak points, its fallibilities can also prove to be of great advantage to the self-driven student who recognizes them.

The curriculum at Canada’s National School of Horology (École Nationale d’Horlogerie) consists of a 27 module standard diploma program and an optional 10 module diploma specializing in horological complications. While the course descriptions mandate an 1800 hour duration and 600 hour duration respectively for each diploma, there is no true set timeline to either program. Some students have finished in as little time as just a few months, while others have taken in excess of four years to complete their standard diploma …

… Canada’s National School of Horology is not a school that I would recommend to everyone. If you are interested in both clocks and watches and are comfortable learning independently in an open environment, then it may be exactly what you are looking for.

And about the title of my post? It’s been 2 years since this article in Macleans magazine, but I expect the scale is still somewhat similar.

Although nearly all graduates get hired, Canada’s lone watchmaking school struggles with enrolment

Yearly tuition is only $298 and graduates are guaranteed jobs, but enrolment is frozen in time at the only watchmaking school in Canada located in Trois-Rivieres.

Although the global watchmaking trade has made a comeback with high-end mechanical timepieces back in vogue, only 14 students and three teachers toil in obscurity on the top floor of a converted 1930s dormitory that houses Canada’s last watchmaking school …

… The French-language program in this small city 130 kilometres northeast of Montreal could handle three times the current enrolment. “The main reason we don’t have as many students as we should is that a lot of people don’t know that we’re still alive …

… here is a shortage of 25,000 watchmakers worldwide. Many of his graduates are immediately snapped up each year by high-end jewellers and watch manufacturers. Some are hired by companies dedicated to maintaining bank vault timers or aircraft instrument panels. According to Plourde, no matter whether in Montreal or London, Trois-Rivieres or Los Angelas, “everyone gets a job.”

If you’re reading this and are either young and wondering what to do with life, or know somebody in that situation, or you’re older and wanting a change in life, think of it this way … travel to Quebec, learn how to speak and read French well enough to take classes in a small city that’s predominately French-speaking but where English is also fairly common and not an issue in day-to-day life. You’d be part of a fairly European culture without leaving North America. You’d learn a career where you’re virtually guaranteed a job. Perhaps not a terribly high-paying job, but one with deep personal satisfaction from working with your hands on something you enjoy. And school would cost virtually nothing compared to most options.

Think about it, maybe it’s for you.