 Deschamps, who has a background in education, was a teacher for 24 years after obtaining a degree at the Université de Montréal and completing additional studies at St. Dunstan's University in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he played for the university's hockey club.He was also a director for a Montreal mining exploration company for eight years.He was also a manager and football coach in the league he founded in 1965, the Ligue de football interscolaire de Mauricie, and was involved heavily in many canoe associations regionally and provincially.