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Thomas Baillie, soldier, administrator (b at Hanwell, Eng 4 Oct 1796; d at Boulogne, France 20 May 1863).

Josué Dubois Berthelot de Beaucours, military officer, engineer, governor of Trois-Rivières and Montréal (b in France c 1662; d at Montréal 9 May 1750).

Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay, officer (b at Montréal 4 Sept 1708; d at Blaye, France 7 May 1777), son of Claude de RAMEZAY.

In the mid-1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s political demise seemed inevitable. He sought to reverse the tide running against his Conservative Party. In January 1935, he began a series of live radio speeches outlining a “New Deal” for Canada. He promised a more progressive taxation system; a maximum work week; a minimum wage; closer regulation of working conditions; unemployment insurance; health and accident insurance; a revised old-age pension; and agricultural support programs. But Bennett’s 11th-hour proposals were seen as too-little, too-late. He lost the 1935 election to William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Liberals.

Charles Albanel, Jesuit priest, missionary and explorer (b in Auvergne, France c 1616; d at Sault Ste Marie 11 Jan 1696).

Pierre Dugua de Mons (or Du Gua de Monts), colonizer, explorer, trader (born c. 1558 in Royan, France; died 22 February 1628 near Fléac-sur-Seugne, France). Pierre Dugua de Mons oversaw the founding of Port Royal, in Acadia (present-day Annapolis Royal), and Quebec City, Quebec. These two places were the first successful French settlements in North America. At a time of significant religious tension in France, there were few people involved in that kingdom’s exploration and settlement of North America that better represent the social, political and religious context of the early 17th century. Both Samuel de Champlain and Mathieu Da Costa, who are better known from this period, were de Mons’s employees and acted under his direction. De Mons’s legacy has been overshadowed by Champlain in part because Champlain wrote extensively about his work, whereas de Mons did not. In addition, in some of Champlain’s writings he replaced de Mons with himself.

Marie-Joseph Angélique (born circa 1705 in Madeira, Portugal; died 21 June 1734 in Montréal, QC). Angélique was an enslaved Black woman owned by Thérèse de Couagne de Francheville in Montréal. In 1734, she was charged with arson after a fire leveled Montréal’s merchants' quarter. It was alleged that Angélique committed the act while attempting to flee her bondage. She was convicted, tortured and hanged. While it remains unknown whether or not she set the fire, Angélique’s story has come to symbolize Black resistance and freedom.

François de Laval, first bishop of Québec (born François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval de Montigny on 30 April 1623 in Montigny-sur-Avre, France; died 6 May 1708 in Québec).

Claude Chauchetière, Jesuit missionary, painter (b at St-Porchaire-de-Poitiers, France 7 Sept 1645; d at Québec City 17 Apr 1709).

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, Comte de Bougainville, soldier, sailor (born 12 November 1729 in Paris, France; died 20 August 1811).

Tales of swashbuckling pirates have captured audiences from around the globe for centuries. Among them is the story of Eric Cobham and his wife Maria Lindsay. Legend has it that the couple established a base in St. George’s Bay, Newfoundland, from which they attacked ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 1740 to 1760. The couple is then said to have moved to France where they lived in a lavish estate. Cobham became a magistrate and judge while still occasionally committing acts of piracy. Lindsay died under mysterious circumstances and Cobham died in 1780 after allegedly dictating the story of his exploits. However, his memoirs were lost and therefore, the adventures of Cobham and Lindsay can’t be proven. This has led some experts to contend that the couple are nothing more than characters in a pirate tale.

Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, colonizer (born 20 June 1771 on St Mary's Isle, Scotland; died 8 April 1820 in Pau, France).

​The coureurs de côtes were itinerant traders in 18th-century French Canada.

Thomas Pichon, alias Thomas Tyrell, colonial official, spy, author (b at Vire, France 30 Mar 1700; d at St Helier, Jersey 22 Nov 1781).

Black people have lived in Canada since the beginnings of transatlantic settlement. Although historically very few arrived directly from their ancestral homeland in Africa, the term "African Canadian" is used to identify all descendants of Africa regardless of their place of birth. “Black Canadian” is also used as a more general term. The earliest arrivals were enslaved people brought from New England or the West Indies. Between 1763 and 1900, most Black migrants to Canada were fleeing enslavement in the US. (See also Black Enslavement in Canada.)

See also Black History in Canada: 1900–1960 and Black History in Canada: 1960 to Present.

Brébeuf, an accomplished linguist, supervised the preparation of a Huron grammar and dictionary. In 1640, following a devastating smallpox epidemic, the Huron attacked him and his companion and damaged their mission.

Isaac de Razilly, naval captain, knight of Malta, colonizer and lieutenant-general in Acadia (b at Château d'Oiseaumelle, Touraine, France 1587; d at La Hève, Acadia 1636).

Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax in 1749, governor of Nova Scotia from 1749-52, military leader and governor of Gibraltar from 1762-76, (born 22 February 1713 in London, England; died 23 January 1776 in Gibraltar).

The Grey Nuns refer to six distinct Roman Catholic religious communities of women. Their origins can all be traced to the Sisters of Charity of theHôpital Général de Montréal founded by Marie-Marguerite d'Youville in the mid-18th century.