After studying Communications at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Nicola Lemay decided to specialize in animation. He attended the International Summer School of Animation at Sheridan College and participated in an advanced seminar with animator Richard William at the National Theatre School in London, England. He then went on to work on a number of TV series as well as in advertising, both in Canada and in Europe.

In 1999, Lemay directed his first independent film, Le Mangeur d’Étoiles/The Star Eater, an animated short about a young boy who joins forces with a shooting star in order to destroy a dangerous star eater. This fantastic tale told through animated drawings provides a glimpse of Lemay's developing cartoon world. The film was selected at Aspen Kidtoonfest in 2000, and can be screened online at www.animationexpress.com.

Lemay joined the National Film Board of Canada in 2000, becoming a member of French Program's Animation and Youth Studio. There, he works as an artistic director and animator on the Science Please! series of one-minute science clips, and directed the clips Magnets, The Light Bulb, Electricity, Fire, and Electromagnetic Radiation. The series won the 2002 Gémeaux prize for best animated program or series. He is also director of the children's website Ludovic.

Lemay teaches animation at Cégep du Vieux Montréal and École ICARI, a private multimedia school in Montreal.