Aboriginal peoples already lived in every region when Europeans arrived. The Vikings reached Labrador and Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago, at l’Anse aux Meadows. John Cabot mapped the Atlantic shore in 1497, and Jacques Cartier made three voyages between 1534 and 1542, exploring the St. Lawrence River and claiming the land for France.
Chapter at a glanceThe Master Timeline
If you learn nothing else, learn this sequence. Every other section of this summary hangs off one of these dates.
Vikings from Iceland reach Labrador and Newfoundland (l’Anse aux Meadows).
John Cabot charts the Atlantic coast and claims the New Founde Land for England.
Jacques Cartier’s three voyages; the word kanata becomes Canada.
Port-Royal — the first European settlement north of Florida.
Champlain fortifies the site of Quebec City.
Hudson’s Bay Company chartered by King Charles II.
Plains of Abraham: France’s empire in America ends.
Quebec Act — a constitutional foundation of Canada.
The 13 colonies declare independence; Loyalists flee north.
Constitutional Act: Upper and Lower Canada, elected assemblies.
War of 1812; the American invasion fails.
Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada.
Upper and Lower Canada united as the Province of Canada.
Responsible government — Nova Scotia first, then United Canada.
British North America Act; the Dominion of Canada is born on July 1.
Louis Riel’s two uprisings; Manitoba created; Riel executed.
Last spike of the CPR, November 7.
First World War; Vimy Ridge 1917; Armistice November 11, 1918.
Great Depression; Bank of Canada 1934.
Second World War; D-Day June 6, 1944; Germany surrenders May 8, Japan August 14, 1945.
Before contactAboriginal Peoples
Every region of Canada was already inhabited when Europeans arrived. The newcomers called the inhabitants Indians, a name that stuck because the earliest explorers believed they had landed in the East Indies. All of these peoples drew their living from the land — some as hunters and gatherers, others as crop farmers.
Remember this
- Huron-Wendat (Great Lakes), like the Iroquois: farmers and hunters.
- Cree and Dene (Northwest): hunter-gatherers.
- Sioux: nomadic, following the bison (buffalo) herd.
- Inuit: lived off Arctic wildlife.
- West Coast peoples: kept fish by drying and smoking it.
Fighting between Aboriginal groups was frequent; territory, resources and prestige were all contested. Native life was changed for good once European colonists, soldiers, missionaries and traders appeared, and European diseases, against which Aboriginal people had no immunity, killed them in great numbers. Yet over the first 200 years of living side by side, the two groups also built strong economic, religious and military ties — and those ties are the foundation Canada rests on.
~1000 – 1550sThe First Europeans
About 1,000 years ago, Vikings from Iceland who had settled Greenland sailed on to Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. Their settlement at l’Anse aux Meadows survives as a World Heritage site. Exploration proper started in 1497 with John Cabot, an Italian who had emigrated to England: he produced the first map of Canada’s East Coast, landed on Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island, and claimed the New Founde Land for England. Even so, the English did not settle until 1610.
Jacques Cartier crossed the Atlantic three times between 1534 and 1542 and claimed the territory for King Francis I of France. No European before him had explored the St. Lawrence River or seen the sites of Quebec City and Montreal. Two captured guides used the Iroquoian word kanata — “village” — in his hearing, and by the 1550s mapmakers were writing Canada.
Test questions on this topic
Why did the first European explorers call the native peoples of Canada 'Indians'?
Why: European explorers found every region already inhabited. They called the inhabitants Indians, the earliest of them believing they had arrived in the East Indies.
Which Aboriginal peoples of the Great Lakes region were farmers and hunters, like the Iroquois?
Why: Around the Great Lakes the Huron-Wendat farmed and hunted, as the Iroquois did. In the Northwest the Cree and Dene lived by hunting and gathering. The Sioux moved with the bison herds. Arctic wildlife sustained the Inuit.
The Sioux were a settled people who lived year-round in permanent farming villages.
Why: The Sioux moved with the bison herds, the Inuit lived on Arctic wildlife, and peoples of the West Coast kept fish by drying and smoking it.
How did West Coast natives preserve fish?
Why: Arctic wildlife sustained the Inuit; West Coast peoples preserved fish by drying and smoking. Fighting between Aboriginal groups was frequent, driven by competition over land, resources and standing.
What contributed to large numbers of Aboriginal deaths after the arrival of Europeans?
Why: European diseases, against which they had no immunity, killed Aboriginal people in great numbers. Even so, the first two centuries of contact produced durable economic, religious and military ties between the two, and those ties are what Canada was founded on.
Who first mapped Canada's Atlantic shore, landing in 1497 on either Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island?
Why: John Cabot, an Italian who had settled in England, was the first to chart Canada's Atlantic coast. He landed in 1497 on either Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island and claimed the New Founde Land for England, though English settlement waited until 1610.
Icelandic Vikings who had settled Greenland went on to reach Labrador and Newfoundland.
Why: Icelandic Vikings who had colonized Greenland a thousand years ago pushed on to Labrador and to Newfoundland. What survives of their settlement at l'Anse aux Meadows is now a World Heritage site.
What is the name of the Viking settlement in Canada that is now a World Heritage site?
Why: Icelandic Vikings who had colonized Greenland a thousand years ago pushed on to Labrador and to Newfoundland. What survives of their settlement at l'Anse aux Meadows is now a World Heritage site.
Between which years did Jacques Cartier make his three Atlantic voyages on behalf of King Francis I of France?
Why: Jacques Cartier crossed the Atlantic three times between 1534 and 1542 and claimed the land in the name of King Francis I. From two captured guides he picked up the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" — and by the 1550s Canada was appearing on maps.
What does the Iroquoian word 'kanata,' from which Canada gets its name, mean?
Why: From two captured guides Cartier picked up the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village"; Canada was turning up on maps by the 1550s.
In what year was the first European settlement north of Florida established, on St. Croix Island and then at Port-Royal?
Why: The earliest European settlement anywhere north of Florida dates from 1604. Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain, exploring for France, placed it first on St. Croix Island, in what is now Maine, and moved it afterwards to Port-Royal in Acadia — today's Nova Scotia.
In what year did Champlain build a fortress at what is now Quebec City?
Why: Champlain raised a fortified post in 1608 on the site of today’s Quebec City, where the settlers had to cope with a punishing climate.
In what year did the French and the Iroquois make peace after a century of conflict?
Why: Champlain tied the colony to the Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron, long-standing foes of the Iroquois — a confederation of five First Nations, later six, that fought the French settlements for a hundred years. Peace between the French and the Iroquois came in 1701.
Which leaders extended a French Empire in North America from Hudson Bay south to the Gulf of Mexico?
Why: Under leaders of the calibre of Jean Talon, Bishop Laval and Count Frontenac, a French empire took shape in North America stretching from Hudson Bay south to the Gulf of Mexico.
What was the demand in Europe that drove the vast fur-trade economy in which the French and Aboriginal people collaborated?
Why: French settlers and Aboriginal peoples worked together in an enormous fur trade, which existed because Europeans wanted beaver pelts.
Which monarch gave the Hudson’s Bay Company a trading monopoly over the Hudson Bay watershed in 1670?
Why: King Charles II handed the Hudson's Bay Company sole trading rights in 1670 over the whole watershed that drains into Hudson Bay, and for a century afterwards the Company was in competition with traders based in Montreal.
What name was given to the daring canoe-men of the fur trade who built alliances with First Nations?
Why: Those who ran the canoe routes — bold, highly skilled men known as voyageurs and coureurs des bois — built firm alliances with First Nations.
In what year was the Battle of the Plains of Abraham fought at Quebec City, ending France’s empire in America?
Why: British victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City in 1759 ended France's empire in America. Both commanders — Wolfe for the British, Montcalm for the French — died at the head of their troops.
Which two commanders were killed leading their troops at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham?
Why: British victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City in 1759 ended France's empire in America. Both commanders — Wolfe for the British, Montcalm for the French — died at the head of their troops.
Practice the whole category
Try all 145 practice questions on Canada’s History — one at a time, with instant feedback on every answer.