Louis Cyr (1863-1912) was a famous Canadian strongman with a career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His recorded feats, including lifting 500 pounds (227 kg) with three fingers and carrying 4,337 pounds (1967 kg) on his back, show Cyr to be, according to former International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness chairman Ben Weider, the strongest man ever to have lived.
Cyr was born "Cyprien-Noé" in St. Cyprien de Napierville in Quebec, Canada. From the age of twelve Cyr worked in a lumber camp during the winters and on the family’s farm the rest of the year. He impressed his fellow workers with his feats of strength. According to one of his biographers, his mother decided “he should let his hair grow, like Samson in the Bible.” She curled it regularly.
In 1878 the Cyr family immigrated to Lowell, Massachusetts in the United States. It was in Lowell that Cyr changed his name from Cyprien-Noé to Louis, as it was easier to pronounce in English. Again his great strength brought him fame. At seventeen he weighed 230 pounds (104 kg). He entered his first strongman contest in Boston at age eighteen, lifting a horse off the ground, the fully grown male horse was placed on a platform with 2 iron bars attached enabling Cyr to obtain a better grip. The horse weighed at least 3/4 of a ton.
Hugo Girard (born December 20, 1971 in Sainte-Anne-de-Portneuf, Quebec) is a Canadian strongman. Girard is a Strongman Super Series world Champion, a four-time World Muscle Power champion and a six-time Canada's Strongest Man.
Prior to his career as a strongman competitor, Girard worked as a bouncer in a popular Quebec City nightclub on weekends while attending community college. In the early 1990s, he went to Los Angeles in order to either pursue a career as a professional bodybuilder or as an actor. After a few months, Girard came back to the province of Quebec where he was later hired as a police officer for the city of Gatineau.
Girard focused on Strongman competition, and became a 6-time consecutive finalist in the World's Strongest Man competition from 1998-2004. Hugo's highest placing was 4th place at the 1999 World's Strongest Man contest.
In 2002 Girard reached the high point of his career to date, winning the 2002 Strongman Super Series overall title. Hugo has also won the World Muscle Power Championships 4 times, in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2004.
Jean-Pierre Ferland, OC CQ (born June 24, 1932 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian singer and songwriter.
Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began taking guitar lessons with Stephen Fentock and began to fall in love with music, writing his first musical pieces. After two years of work with Radio-Canada, in February 1958, he began recording the first songs that would eventually comprise his first album Jean-Pierre. However, it was not until 1961 that he became known to the public, with the release of his second album, Rendez-vous à La Coda.
From 1962 to 1970, Ferland spent much time in Europe (mainly in France and Belgium), writing music and recording albums, as well as performing at a multitude of venues, including shows in Olympia and Bobino. In 1968 he won the Académie Charles Cros Award.
In 1996, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2003, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. In 2005, Jean-Pierre Ferland was honoured by the AV Trust of Canada for the album Jaune with collaboration of Michael Georges.