Our Story

Why Héritage Got Started - Founder, Jesse Martineau

I am the descendant of the almost 1 million people who immigrated from Québec to the United States in the period between the United States Civil War and World War II.  Both my parents spoke French in the house growing up.  However, in a story that is unfortunately quite common in my generation, my sister and I became the first in the family to not grow up with French as a first language.  In fact, we didn’t learn it at all.  This never sat well with me.

In 2021, I decided to change that.  I took a 6 month leave of absence from my job and studied French full time in Québec City.  I would go to school from about 9am to 2pm every day, studying French in a classroom.  After school, I would frequently take part in school activity that was offered that day.  These ranged from museum tours to whale watching.  And since it was all through the school, the activities were always in French.  I also had the opportunity to meet some amazing people from all over the world, many I still talk to today. It was, quite honestly, the best 6 months of my life.  

I have decided that I want to give others the same opportunity I had.  I joined together with some great friends to form Heritage, Corp.  Héritage will provide the funds for students to study and live in Québec.  Héritage students will also have the opportunity to split their time between Montréal and Québec City, something I did not get the chance to do.  We will pay for six months of classes and accommodations, including two meals each day. This presents an amazing opportunity for anyone looking to study French in La belle province.