She was one of the first women journalists at Le Devoir and co-authored Comment on abrutit nos enfants (1962), a significant text in the Quiet Revolution.

Chalvin initially trained to become a secretary and began working at Le Devoir, a French-language newspaper in Montreal, in 1951 when she was twenty years old.

[2] She eventually began publishing columns under the guidance of editor-in-chief André Laurendeau, making her one of the first female journalists at the publication.

[4] In 1962, Chalvin and her husband Michel co-authored the book Comment on abrutit nos enfants, a critique of the religious textbooks used in Quebec public schools, which they viewed as racist and sexist.

[2] The text became influential in the Quiet Revolution in Quebec and was praised by sociologist Guy Rocher,[3][2] although at the time of its publication it was criticized by religious groups such as the Clerics of Saint Viator, the Sisters of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and the De La Salle Brothers.