When he returned to Canada following the war, he settled in Kirkland Lake, where he purchased the Prince George Hotel, working as joint owner from 1946 to 1948, He moved to Timmins and applied for a broadcasting license; CFCL went to air in 1952 as the first French language radio station in Ontario.
CFCL-TV went to air that year as a dual affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English and French television networks.
[1] By 1980, Lavigne divested himself of his broadcast holdings, primarily because he was refused permission to operate a cable service in the north, as authorities feared a monopoly.
In 1983, Lavigne received an honorary doctorate from Sudbury's Laurentian University, and was named a member of the Order of Canada, in recognition of his pioneering contributions to Canadian broadcasting.
[1] In his later years, Lavigne was a prominent residential real estate developer in Timmins, and as a director of the National Bank of Canada.