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French Canadian attitudes toward monarchical government and members of the French and, later, British royal families have changed over time. King Louis XIV of France made New France a crown colony and supported its expansion and economic development. King George III of Great Britain granted royal assent to the Quebec Act in 1774, which guaranteed freedom of worship and French Canadian property rights. Early royal tours of Quebec were well received by the public. There was republican sentiment expressed during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, however, and support for the monarchy in Quebec declined sharply following the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Today, polling data indicates that a majority of people in Quebec support the abolition of the monarchy in Canada.

Jean-Louis Le Loutre, priest, missionary (b at Morlaix, France 26 Sept 1709; d at Nantes, France 30 Sept 1772).

Ontario has the largest French-speaking minority community in Canada, and the largest French-speaking community of any province outside of Quebec. Ontario’s French-speaking presence was first established during the French colonial regime in the early 17th century (see New France.) It grew steadily throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly in the eastern and northeastern parts of the province in connection with the forestry, mining and railway industries. French has official language status in Ontario’s Legislative Assembly, in the courts, and in educational institutions (see French Languages Services Act (Ontario)).

Pierre Biard, Jesuit missionary (b at Grenoble, France 1567 or 1568; d at Avignon, France 17 Nov 1622). After long preparation for missionary work, Biard left for ACADIA in early 1611.

Marcel Trudel, historian (born at St-Narcisse, Qué 29 May 1917; died at Longueuil, Qué 11 Jan 2011), one of the masters of contemporary Québec historiography. He shaped generations of historians, first at Laval (1947-65), briefly at Carleton University and then at Ottawa University (1966-82).

Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel, Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto (b near Monistrol-sur-Loire, France 1 Dec 1802; d at Crest, France 29 Mar 1891). Of noble birth, Charbonnel entered the priesthood in the Society of St-Sulpice.

After New France was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, the migration of French colonists slowed considerably. A trickle of clergy members, farmers and professionals settled during the 19th century. However, after the Second World War, French immigration — which was then politically favoured — resumed with renewed vigour. This effort was geared towards recruiting francophone professionals and entrepreneurs, who settled in Canada’s big cities. The French spawned many cultural associations and had a large presence in French-Canadian schools.

Joseph-François Lafitau, priest, Jesuit missionary, legal philosopher (b at Bordeaux, France 1681; d there 3 July 1746).

From the late 1660's onwards, several hundred Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) mainly from the Mohawk nation settled in the region of Montréal. Most converted to Catholicism or underwent the process of doing so.

In Canada, the term francophone refers to someone whose first language is French: it is the one they use most often to speak, read, write and think, and the one they use most often at home. Being francophone can also simply mean being able to speak the language fluently.

According to the 2016 census, approximately 10.36 million Canadians, or 29.8 per cent of the population, declared being able to communicate in French. Of this number, 7.45 million reported that French was their mother tongue.

Paul Le Jeune, Jesuit missionary and superior at Québec, author (b at Vitry-le-François, France July 1591; d at Paris, France 7 Aug 1664). Converted to Catholicism at 16, Le Jeune was named superior of the Jesuits at Québec in 1632.

"If a tank was coming, you had to get in position to be able to fire at it."

See below for Mr. Guérin's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

Basques were expert fishermen and sailors from the southeast corner of the Bay of Biscay. With the Portuguese, they were early arrivals to Newfoundland's Grand Banks.

Charles Lalemant, Jesuit missionary, first superior of the Jesuits at Québec (b at Paris, France 17 Nov 1587; d there 18 Nov 1674), brother of Jérôme Lalemant.

Récollets, a reformed branch of the Franciscan family, came to France at the end of the 16th century. The main objective of the Récollets was to observe more strictly the Rule of St Francis, and like other semiautonomous branches, they came under the minister general of the Franciscans.

Antonine Maillet, CC, OQ, ONB, novelist, playwright, translator, scholar (born 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, NB).

Acadia’s history as a French-speaking colony stretches as far back as the early 17th century. The French settlers who colonized the land and coexisted alongside Indigenous peoples became called Acadians. Acadia was also the target of numerous wars between the French and the English. Ultimately, the colony fell under British rule. Many Acadians were subsequently deported away from Acadia. Over time, as a British colony and then as part of Canada, Acadians increasingly became a linguistic minority. Nonetheless, Acadians have strived to protect their language and identity throughout time.

In early Canada, the enslavement of African peoples was a legal instrument that helped fuel colonial economic enterprise. The buying, selling and enslavement of Black people was practiced by European traders and colonists in New France in the early 1600s, and lasted until it was abolished throughout British North America in 1834. During that two-century period, settlers in what would eventually become Canada were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Canada is further linked to the institution of enslavement through its history of international trade. Products such as salted cod and timber were exchanged for slave-produced goods such as rum, molasses, tobacco and sugar from slaveholding colonies in the Caribbean.

This is the full-length entry about Black enslavement in Canada. For a plain language summary, please see Black Enslavement in Canada (Plain Language Summary).

(See also Olivier Le Jeune; Sir David Kirke; Chloe Cooley and the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada; Underground Railroad; Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; Slavery Abolition Act, 1833; Slavery of Indigenous People in Canada.)

In the late 1670s, during a period of conflict with the New England colonies, several hundred Abenaki found refuge in the St Lawrence Valley. They first settled in the Québec region along the Chaudière River before migrating west at the end of the 17th century.