Yep, you read that right. An English headline in Le Grenier. The first one ever. Followed by this : The first English article. Ever. And it’s all for you, lg2 Toronto.

Pourquoi you ask ? Well, you can thank your friends at LG2 Montreal and Quebec. In order to celebrate your 5-year anniversary, we convinced (paid) Le Grenier to run this article, written in the other official language of Canada so that you guys can all proudly share it with the high-school French teacher who got mad at you for saying phoque all the time in class. You’re big time now. Félicitations!

When we first met you (Chris, Nellie and Jeremy) at our 2014 summer party, we knew that it was the first of many firsts to come. It was the first time you called someone Jean-François or Marie-Christine because you forgot their name. It was the first time you said you « loved » French Canadian country music. It was the first time you giggled when someone said « focus ». Yes, we know what it sounds like.

So many firsts. And these led to more firsts. Your first hires. Your first agency dog (RIP?). Your first of many, many, many late nights. Your first of many, many, many early mornings wondering why the phoque you left great jobs to start an agency in an overcrowded market when nobody in the city could even pronounce the agency’s name.

You were even first on Maurice Levy’s Global Agency Dead Pool for three years running. Well, no longer. Now you’ve gone from your first, second and third clients to your eighteenth. And counting. Now you’re one of the first names on any pitch list. You’ve already won your first three Lions. In fact, you’re now often the first ones up on stage at award shows around the world. You’re the first guest on the NAC’s new podcast. It’s really long, but we’ll watch it soon, promise. And the first ones to admit that maybe, just maybe, it was a mistake to skip high-school French class because then you’d be able to hate-watch Occupation Double like all of us.

But most importantly, you’re first in our hearts today. Congratulations on five incredible years. Here’s to 25 more. When you’ll be the first agency run by the AI-enabled, cryogenically frozen heads of Chris, Nellie, Jeremy and that first agency dog. Whatever his name was. On vous aime!

Your teammates from Montreal and Quebec