Cailhier attended primary and secondary school at Pensionnat de Valleyfield, and did her collegiate studies at Collège Jesus-Marie d’Outremont.
[2] Her first dramatic texts were L'Atelier and Studio d'études in 1970 and 1971, which were aired on Radio-Canada and directed by Robert Blondin.
From 1972 to 1975, Cailhier was a researcher and conducted interviews for the radio program Gens de mon pays, produced by Blondin and Jean Boisvert.
Cailhier's first feature film, La piastre, was written in 1974 and released in 1976 with her husband Alain Chartrand, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Marie.
She gave documentary writing lessons at the Institut de l’image et du son and the Association québécoise des auteurs dramatiques.