[1] Born to Canadian parents in Burlington, Vermont, Labelle was baptized in Montreal on 13 November 1825.
He received his earliest musical training in that city from string instrumentalist and instrument maker Joseph Lyonnais.
He toured the United States and South America in 1857 and in November of that year organized concerts of selected works by Adolphe Adam, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Franz Schubert at Mechanics' Hall in Montreal under the title "Grand Operatic Concert".
[1] Labelle died in Montreal in 1898 around the time of his 73rd birthday and was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
[2] He had previously suffered from an illness in December 1896 which had left him paralysed for the last couple years of his life.