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The French came to the North-West from Montréal in search of furs and an overland route to the Mer de l'Ouest which would lead to a short route to China (see coureurs de bois).

Gustave Francq, typographer, labour leader (b at Brussels, Belgium Mar 1871; d at Montréal 2 Jan 1952). Sometimes considered the father of international unionism in Québec, Francq immigrated to Québec City in 1889 and learned typography.

James Gladstone, or Akay-na-muka, meaning "Many guns"; Canada's first Indigenous senator (b at Mountain Hill, North-West Territories 21 May 1887; d at Fernie, BC 4 Sept 1971).

Gitxsan (Gitksan), meaning “People of the River Mist,” live along the Skeena River of northwestern British Columbia in the communities of Hazelton, Kispiox and Glen Vowell (the Eastern Gitxsan bands) and Kitwanga, Kitwankool and Kitsegukla (the Western Gitxsan). In the 2016 census, 5,675 people claimed Gitxsan ancestry.

Daniel John O'Donoghue, printer, trade union leader, politician (b at Lakes of Killarney, Ire 1844; d at Toronto 16 Jan 1907). "The father of the Canadian labor movement" began his apprenticeship as a printer in Ottawa

Carl Ray, Cree artist, illustrator, editor and art teacher (born January 1943 in Sandy Lake, ON; died 26 September 1978 in Sioux Lookout, ON). Ray was known for his innovative paintings in the Woodlands style and was a founding member of the Indian Group of Seven. Ray’s work has influenced Indigenous art in Canada and can be found in the collections of various galleries and museums across the country.

Kateri Tekakwitha or Tekaouïta (baptised Catherine), known as the Lily of the Mohawks, first North American Aboriginal person elevated to sainthood (born in 1656 at Ossernenon in Iroquois country, now Auriesville, NY; died 17 April 1680 at the St. Francis Xavier Mission at Sault St. Louis, New France, now Kahnawake).

Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake in the Lakota language, meaning literally “Buffalo Bull Who Sits Down”), Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux chief (born in 1831; died 15 December 1890 at Standing Rock, South Dakota). Sitting Bull led the Dakota (Sioux) resistance against US incursion into traditional territory. After the most famous battle at Little Big Horn, in which General George Custer’s forces were completely annihilated, Sitting Bull left the United States for the Cypress Hills in Saskatchewan. Sitting Bull symbolized the conflict between settlers and Indigenous culture over lifestyles, land and resources.

French Canadian nationalism concerns a wide variety of manifestations of the collective will of much of Canada's French-speaking population to live as a distinct cultural community. Its innumerable ramifications have been not only cultural but also political, economic and social.

Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, theologian, ecumenist (b at Ottawa 2 Nov 1920). An ordained priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, Fairweather was a member of the theological faculty of Trinity College, University of Toronto, from 1944 until his retirement in 1986. He was dean of divinity 1983-85.

James Endicott, missionary, clergyman (b in Devonshire, Eng 8 May 1865; d at Toronto 9 Mar 1954). Coming to Canada at age 17, he served Methodist home missions until he returned to school at Wesley College, Winnipeg, and was ordained in 1893.

Robert Charles Davidson, Haida artist (b at Hydaburg, Alaska 4 Nov 1946). Master carver, printmaker and jeweller, Robert Davidson is great-grandson and heir to the legacy of Charlie Edenshaw.

Métis Settlements located across the northern part of Alberta are comprised of the Paddle Prairie, Peavine, Gift Lake, East Prairie, Buffalo Lake, Kikino, Elizabeth and Fishing Lake settlements. These eight settlements form a constitutionally protected Métis land base in Canada.

Archibald Lang Fleming, Church of England bishop of the Arctic 1933-49 (b at Greenock, Scot 8 Sept 1883; d at Toronto 17 May 1953). In 1906 he went to Canada to train at Wycliffe College, Toronto, and in 1909 he established a mission at Lake Harbour, Baffin Island, where he stayed until 1916.

Between 1835 and 1865, several hundred immigrants from Finland settled in Alaska (which was part of Russia at that time). Many moved down the coast to British Columbia (see Sointula). Some early Finnish immigrants to Ontario worked on the construction of the first Welland Canal, which was completed in 1829. The 2016 census reported 143, 640 people of Finnish origin in Canada (25, 875 single responses and 117, 765 multiple responses).

Maxime Fortin, parish priest, editor, Catholic union organizer (b at St-Aubert, Qué 17 Mar 1881; d at St-Jean-Port-Joli, Qué 4 Aug 1957).

Florence Edenshaw Davidson, Haida elder, artist (b at Masset, Queen Charlotte Is [Haida Gwaii], BC 1895; d there Dec 1993), daughter of famous Haida chief and artist Charlie Edenshaw.

Fleming, Michael Anthony, Roman Catholic bishop of Newfoundland (b at Carrick-on-Suir, Ire 1792?; d at St John's 14 July 1850). A Franciscan priest, Fleming came to St John's in 1823.

Marie Gérin-Lajoie, feminist, pioneer social worker, founder of the Institut Notre-Dame du Bon-Conseil (born 9 June 1890 in Montréal, QC; died 7 January 1971 in Montréal).

Fernand Dumont, sociologist, philosopher, theologian and poet (b at Montmorency, Que., June 24, 1927; d at Québec, May 1, 1997). Dumont is considered one of the most prominent intellectuals Quebec has ever produced.