Thanks to his wife Madeleine, a social worker who saved him from the street when he was 17-years-old, Pierre Dalpé has become a prosperous entrepreneur, running a garbage-collection business in the Montreal area. His quiet happiness with his wife and their children changes when he crosses paths with Eve, a teenage drug addict/prostitute who belongs to a street gang.

Benoit, an actor surviving on his barman wages, follows the advice of is his brother Frank - a former hockey player turned talent agent- and grows a beard to get a part in a dinner theatre play. Benoit's girlfriend Vicky, an ex dramaturge who now works as a librarian, finds it difficult to accept this latest development, as it will delay the couple's plan to purchase a condo from their friends Caro and Vincent, who manage a hair and beauty salon. But Benoit's beard seems to have magical powers: he suddenly has a great deal of success, while Vicky develops a mysterious allergy to her boyfriend's facial hair.

A much-needed boost, in the form of a new factory, is promised to the reisdents of the tiny fishing village St. Marie-La-Mauderne, provided they can lure a doctor to take up full-time residency on the island. Inspired, the villagers devise a scheme to make Dr. Christopher Lewis a local.