After studying painting and graphic art at the School of Fine Arts in Montreal, Chapleau created in 1971 a caricature of the songbook Gilles Vigneault for Perspectives, a weekly paper distributed with the Saturday Editions of several Quebec dailys. During the following years, Chapleau collaborated in several other publications, such as Montréal-Matin, Week-End, Actualité and Nous. Following Le Devoir in 1985, he worked at Le Matin in 1987, and 7 Jours from 1989 to 1992. After a return to Le Devoir in 1991, he became in 1996 a cartoonist at La Presse, a post that he continues to occupy.