French Canada

The terms "Canada" and "New France" were also used interchangeably. French explorations continued west "unto the Countreys of Canada, Hochelaga, and Saguenay" before any permanent settlements were established. In 1600, a permanent trading post and habitation was established at Tadoussac at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. However, because this trading post was under a trade monopoly, it was not constituted as an official French colonial settlement. The first official settlement of Canada was Québec, founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. The other four colonies within New France were Hudson's Bay to the north, Acadia and Newfoundland to the east, and Louisiana far to the south. Canada became the most developed of the five colonies of New France. It was divided into three districts, Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal, each with its own government. The governor of the District of Quebec also served as the governor-general for all of New France. The Seven Years' War of 1756–1763 saw Great Britain defeat the French and their allies, and take possession of Canada. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, which formally ended the Seven Years' War, France ceded Canada in exchange for other colonies, with a large portion of Canada becoming the British colony of the Province of Quebec.

• National Anthem — Marche Henri IV ("March of Henri IV") • Conventional Long Name — Canada • Common Name — Canada • Status — * Colony of France within New France (1534–1760) • Under British military occupation (1760–1763) • Government Type — Monarchy • Title Leader — King • Leader1 — Francis I (first) • Year Leader1 — 1534–1547 • Leader2 — Louis XV (last) • Year Leader2 — 1715–1763 • Title Deputy — Viceroy/Governor General • Deputy1 — Jean-François Roberval (first) • Year Deputy1 — 1541–1543 • Deputy2 — Pierre de Rigaud (last) • Year Deputy2 — 1755–1763 • Event Start — French territorial possession • Year Start — 1534 • Date Event4 — 10 February 1763 • Event4 — Treaty of Paris • Event End — Royal Proclamation • Date End — 7 October • Year End — 1763 • Event1 — Founding of Quebec • Date Event1 — 1608 • Event2 — Founding of Trois-Rivières • Date Event2 — 1634 • Event3 — Founding of Montreal • Date Event3 — 1642 • P1 — Aboriginal peoples in Canada • S1 — Province of Quebec (1763–1791) • Today — * Canada • United States • Symbol Type — The lesser coat of arms of France as used by the Government • Capital — Quebec • Official Languages — French • Religion — Catholic Church (state religion) • Stat Pop1 — 48500 • Stat Year1 — 1740 survey • Currency — New France livre • Iso3166code — omit

In the 240 years between Verrazano's voyage of exploration in 1524 and the Conquest of New France in 1763, the French marked the North American continent in many ways. Whether it was through by land distribution and clearing, the establishment of villages and towns, deploying a network of roads and paths or developing the territory with various constructions, the French colonists transformed and adapted the environments according to their needs. There are three major periods of expansion of the territory of Canada, mostly as a result of exploration efforts. First, the 1534–1603 period, in which Canada's territory comprised the coasts of Newfoundland, the entirety of St John's Island, the Saint Lawrence River and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and lands that later became Nova Scotia and the coasts of New Brunswick. Then 1603–1673, in which, due to westward expansion and conflicts with Great Britain, Canada's territory was composed of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and of the Great Lakes, as well as lands that later became southern Ontario and northern New England. Then, in the last period of 1673–1741, Canada's territory was composed of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and of the Great Lakes, and lands that later became southern Ontario, southern Manitoba, the north-eastern US Midwest, and part of the Upland South. It was in this period that Canada was at its largest.

• Illustration — Lower Louisiana marked in yellow; pink represents Canada. Part of Canada south of the Great Lakes was ceded to Louisiana in 1717. Brown represents British colonies. Original map from 1719 Dependent on Canada were the Pays d'en Haut (upper countries), a vast territory north and west of Montreal, covering the whole of the Great Lakes and stretching as far into the North American continent as the French had explored. Before 1717, when it ceded territory to the new colony of Louisiana, it stretched as far south as the Illinois Country. In the Great Lakes area, a mission, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, was established in 1639. Following the destruction of the Huron homeland in 1649 by the Iroquois, the French destroyed the mission themselves and left the area. In what are today Ontario and the eastern prairies, various trading posts and forts were built such as Fort Kaministiquia in 1679 (at modern Thunder Bay, Ontario), Fort Frontenac in 1673 (today's Kingston, Ontario), Fort Saint Pierre in 1731 (near modern Fort Frances, Ontario), Fort Saint Charles in 1732 (on Lake of the Woods located on Magnusens Island on the Northwest Angle of Minnesota) and Fort Rouillé in 1750 (today's Toronto). The mission and trading post at Sault Ste. Marie (1688) would later be split by the Canada–US border. The French settlements in the Pays d'en Haut among and south of the Great Lakes were Fort Niagara (1678) (near modern Youngstown, New York), Fort Crevecoeur (1680) (near the present site of Creve Coeur, Illinois, a suburb of Peoria, Illinois), Fort Saint Antoine (1686) (on Lake Pepin in Wisconsin), Fort St. Joseph (1691) (on the southernmost point of St. Joseph Island, Ontario on Lake Huron), Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (1701) (today's Detroit, Michigan), Fort Michilimackinac (1715) (on the Straits of Mackinac at Mackinaw City, Michigan), Fort Miami (1715) (modern Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fort La Baye (1717) (today's Green Bay, Wisconsin), and Fort Beauharnois (1727) (in Florence Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota). Today, the term Les Pays-d'en-Haut refers to a regional county municipality in the Laurentides region of the present Province of Quebec, north of Montreal, while the former Pays d'en Haut was part of the District of Montreal.

The Domaine du roy, established in 1652, was a vast region of New France, which stretched north from the St. Lawrence River to Hudson Bay. It was located between the eastern limit of the seigneurie of Les Éboulements and Cape Cormorant. The territory had an area of more than 460,000 km 2. After the Conquest of New France, the territory's name was changed to Rupert's Land.

A population survey was done in 1740 to estimate Canada's population. The survey of the Saint Lawrence River valley counted about 44,000 colonists in total. The majority of them were born in Canada and lived in a rural environment. Of the colonists, 18,000 lived under the Government of Québec, 4,000 under the Government of Trois-Rivières and 22,000 under the Government of Montreal. As for colonists not living in the Saint Lawrence River valley, Île Royale (now Cape Breton) counted 4,000 inhabitants (of which 1,500 were in Louisbourg), and Île Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island) had 500 inhabitants.