[1] Trained as a pianist, he became one of the first Canadians to compose large-scale choral and orchestral works, in spite of the difficulty of finding suitable teachers of musical composition.

His father was a violinist who was involved in a number of community ensembles and his mother was a piano and voice student of Emma Albani.

Contant himself wanted to pursue studies in Europe, but his father forbade him to go in fear that European society might be detrimental to Alexis's religious faith.

[5] Contant spent his late teenage years and early twenties working as an accompanist for a variety of artists, including violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume.

In 1883 he traveled with Lavallée to Boston where he was able to pursue intense studies with his teacher in music composition, harmony, and counterpoint.

These attacks led him to decide to abandon a performance career in favor of composition, teaching, and the organ for church work.

He pursued studies in composition on his own by analyzing the scores of the works by composers Bach, Mozart, Wagner, Massenet, and Franck among others.

His daughter Fleurette was a concert singer and music teacher and his grandson Jean-Yves Contant worked as a producer for CBC Radio from 1938 to 1979.

The Canadian Encyclopedia states that, "Contant was a pioneer whose vision was on a large scale, and although the results of his efforts do not equal his ambitions, he displays a sincerity and honesty worthy of admiration.