Jacques Lavergne was on a snowboard in Whistler, BC, when he fell in love with the hospitality and tourism industry.

“It caught me by surprise to be honest,” admitted the 2001 graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s popular Business Administration program. “Growing up, working in a hotel just wasn’t on my radar.”

Now the General Manager of Delta Hotels by Marriott Winnipeg, Lavergne left his hometown of Winnipeg for the slopes of Whistler after finishing high school at École Précieux-Sang in St. Boniface.

“I decided to head to Whistler for a season of snowboarding, and I stayed for four years,” said Lavergne with a wink, seated in the Blaze Restaurant and Lounge off the Delta Winnipeg’s lobby.

To cover his rent and living expenses, Lavergne found a job bussing tables at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler resort and spa. “It’s a beautiful hotel in a nice setting,” he remembered. “That job was my first taste of hospitality and tourism, and I quickly became completely enamored. I fell in love with the industry.”

His passion still burns brightly after some 30 years in the business. “I love the fact that every day in my job is completely different from the last. You get to meet some phenomenal people,” he said.

The Delta Winnipeg welcomes more than 200,000 guests on an annual basis. “We host sports teams, people from the film industry and big concerts; we host international conferences,” he said.

“I know it’s a cliché expression, but again, every day is different here,” said Lavergne, who started in his current leadership role in 2022.

As head of the hotel’s five-member executive management team, Lavergne oversees approximately 220 staff. Associate engagement is a top priority at all Marriott Hotels, he said.

“Making sure our staff are happy and want to work here is paramount. Everything we do focuses on making them happy first, with the idea that everything else will follow.”

Business Administration program the best fit

Lavergne packed up his snowboard and returned to Winnipeg in 1998, working for a year as a bartender. He came home with his eye on the Business Administration program at RRC Polytech, although he considered the Hospitality and Tourism Management program as well.

“I had some great hospitality experience from my time in Whistler, but I felt like I needed some more education,” he said. “I wanted to get into something more at a hotel management level.”

“I went back and forth between business and hospitality for a while,” he explained. “I had six- or seven-years’ work experience in hotels by then. I didn’t know everything about hospitality, but I decided it would be in my best interest to get into the business side of things. I figured those skills would translate into the hospitality and tourism sector.”

He also wanted to focus on marketing, which turned into his chosen major in the program. “At that time, I knew the opportunities to study marketing in Business Administration were greater than in Hospitality and Tourism,” he said.

Still bartending on the side — then at the Fairmont Winnipeg — Lavergne started his first day in Business Administration in the fall of 1999. “From day one I really, really enjoyed my time at RRC Polytech on all fronts,” he said.

The second-year entrepreneurship program was another aspect that intrigued him at the time. “It forced me to bring all the skills I’d developed together and put them to practical use,” he said.

Entrepreneurship put Lavergne in a group with random classmates – just like in the real world, you don’t get to choose your co-workers, he noted. Together, they were tasked with starting up their own new business from scratch.

“We created a business development plan; all the strategies involved around opening up our business: marketing, in our case creating a prototype, everything.”

“That is really everyday life,” he continued. “Whether or not you’re actually starting your own business, you’re still applying all those same skills to how you operate and do business.”

RRC Polytech grads make exceptional staff

Upon graduating from Business Administration, Lavergne had an immediate job offer from the Fairmont Winnipeg. “The Monday after graduation, I was offered a Sales Co-Ordinator position and worked there until 2005,” he said. “My last position there was Film and Entertainment Sales Manager.”

He became Sales Manager at the Fairmont Hotels in Downtown Vancouver, then moved in 2008 to the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary as Director of Group Sales.

Lavergne once again moved back home to Winnipeg in 2009, to become Director of Sales and Marketing at the Fairmont Winnipeg, where he once bartended.

His career turned away from hotels in 2013, when he joined the team that opened the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks.

“Part of the reason for that was, I could see the construction going up from the higher floors of the Fairmont Winnipeg and I couldn’t resist. It was an opportunity for me to try something new but use the same skills I was using at the hotel,” he explained.

Now two years into his current role as General Manager of the Delta Winnipeg, Lavergne said, in his experience, hiring RRC Polytech graduates frequently pays off.

“I’ve worked at a couple of places here in Winnipeg. We’ve hired RRC Polytech grads everywhere I’ve worked. Right now, we’ve brought people into the kitchen as part of an apprenticeship; we’ve hired some phenomenal staff in our banquet department and our front desk. We’ve had some massive success with our last batch of Hospitality and Tourism Management recruits that we got here,” he said.

“When we get our guest feedback forms, they will say someone was fantastic at the front desk, for example. Right now, many of those name recognitions we’re seeing are coming from RRC Polytech grads.”

Committee membership a way to say thanks

Over the years, Lavergne has kept in touch with his RRC Polytech roots. He is a past chair of the former association for alumni and today is a member of the Hospitality and Tourism Program Advisory Committee. He sees his involvement as an opportunity to give back to RRC Polytech.

“I give a lot of the credit for my success back to RRC Polytech; so, being on the Program Advisory Committee is a way for me to say thank you,” he said.

“We are used as a sounding board. We meet to discuss curriculum, what the students are learning, whether or not there are any gaps there, opportunities to develop placements, and so on.”

Right now, the College is working on some changes to the Hospitality and Tourism program that the Program Advisory Committee had recommended, he noted.

RRC Polytech is walking the walk, he said. “It’s one thing to ask for feedback. It is another to implement the changes.”

A proud alum of the College, Lavergne was one of 41 phenomenal graduates featured in the Polytechnic Proud campaign. You can learn more about the campaign here.

Profile by Nigel Moore (Creative Communications, 1998).