Born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Pierre Grenier arrived in Vancouver in 1980 to study filmmaking at Simon Fraser University. In 1983, he worked as cameraman and editor for a French TV show on Community TV, after which he researched, directed, and edited a feature documentary called Maillardville: Un lieu qui en dit long, produced by Nuances Production with the support of the NFB and Telefilm Canada. This film was shown on Radio-Canada TV throughout Canada. Grenier became a teacher in 1993 at Vancouver Technical Secondary and was also the instructor in a film production program until retiring in 2013.