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1500
First Occupants arrival
The First Occupants arrived by the Bering Strait Land Bridge. -
Period: 1500 to
First Occupants
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1534
Jacques Cartier's first voyage
The King of France founded Jacques Cartier's first voyage to claim new land, find resources and evangelize to Catholicism. Instead, he finds something more precious to France in the long run which is cod fish. He further explores but doesn't find anymore and decides to leave. -
1535
Jacques Cartier's second voyage
Jacques Cartier returns because of the cod fish he found in Newfoundland. For Jacques Cartier's second voyage, he came down the St. Laurence river and discovered Hochelaga and Stadacona. He also made contact with First Nations. -
Settlement of Quebec
Samuel de Champlain officially founded the settlement of Quebec in 1608. He chose this area in particular because of the narrowing of the river, the easy access to the St. Laurence and the ocean and because it was a good trading point with the Innu and Algonquians. -
Period: to
French Regime
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The settlement of Canada
In 1627, the kind of France granted the company of 100 associates a Trade Monopoly in NF. They had the exclusive rights to exploit a resource, which was fur in this case. As a tradeoff, they were expected to bring over settlers and protect them. There was very minimal expansion of the population due to the threat of attacks from British at sea, therefore, in 1663, the King took it away. -
Settlement of Trois-Rivières
The foundation of Trois-Rivières allowed furriers to communicate with each other in order to prevent the Iroquois from intercepting their trades. -
Settlement of Ville-Marie
The goal of the foundation of Ville-Marie was to evangelise the Amerindians. It also became a major trading post because it is at the heart of Amerindian territory. -
Jean Talon's Immigration Policies
In 1663, the king of France, Louis 14, appointed Intendant Jean Talon to take over the administration of the colony. He was mandated to increase the population. He did so by offering engages a 3 year contract on the seigneuries. Also, a troop of soldiers called the Carignan Salières was sent to establish peace with the Iroquois. Soon after, the King sent the Filles du Roy, single women or orphans, to increase the female population and to be married in New France. -
Jean Talon's Birth incentives
Jean Talon also implemented birth incentives to further encourage population growth. These incentives included:
1. A reward of twenty livres for men who got married at the age of 20 or less and women that got married at 16 or less.
2. A reward of 300 livres to fathers with 10 children or more.
He also added punishments to discourage single life in the colony These punishments included a taxation on fathers who had single sons that were 20 years or older and daughters that were 16 or older. -
Period: to
British Rule
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British Takeover
In 1763, the Seven Year’s War ended in Europe with the Treaty of Paris and New France was ceded to Britain. When the British took over the colony, this change in government stopped French immigration and lead to the departure of more than 2000 individuals. Most of the people who left New France were those who could afford to leave such as, administrators, officers, traders, and seigneurs. The majority of people stayed and had to live under British Rule. -
Loyalists
In 1776, the 13 colonies officially declared their independence from British Control. Many people (15-20%) still remained loyal to the king of England and chose to come to British North America. 46000 loyalists came and settled mainly in the great lakes area and in the eastern townships. The loyalists settling in the colony helped increase the English population from 1% to 10%. -
Constitutional Act
The Constitutional Act divided British North America into Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada was mainly English Canadian and Protestant and Lower Canada was mainly French Canadian and Catholic. This Act also opened up new land to be given to the Loyalists entering Canada. They colonized the Eastern Townships. -
Demography of Quebec
From 1814-1861 the population of Quebec tripled due to natural growth. There were approximately 160 000 people after the constitutional act to 660 000 people after the Act of Union. -
French Canadian emigration to US
During the 20th century, the emigration rate increased. From 1830-1840, there was a French Canadian rural exodus because rural areas were overpopulated. They had to, therefore, find a place to work elsewhere. Many French-Canadians moved to urban areas like Saguenay and Lac St-Jean. Many left for industrialized cities of the USA. -
Act of Union
In 1840, a French Canadian rebel group called the Patriotes wanted better representation for French-speaking people and businessmen.
They were defeated by the English speaking Canadians.
This Act united both Canada's (Lower and Upper) into one territory. This Act helped assimilate the French population due to the fact that previous to forming a single Canada they were the majority of lower Canada. English now became the official language and the French now became the minority. -
The Great Famine
1845-1852 was a period of mass starvation in Ireland. The Irish lost their main food sources, potatoes, because of a disease made that made them not fit to eat. 1 million people died and 1 million emigrated. When the Irish arrived they first went to Gross-île to prevent the spread of disease in British North America. Many of the immigrants settled in the St. Lawrence valley and Upper Canada. -
Immigration policies
1867-1885, 3.4 million people lived in the Dominion of Canada at the time of Confederation. More than 1 million were French Canadians. They represented 30% of pop in Dominion of Canada. Quebec became its own province that favors French immigrants of the Catholic religion. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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National Policy
Prime Minister John A Macdonald implemented his National Policy. He wanted to settle the west of Dominion through immigration by building a railroad. -
The Baby Boom
After the second world war, the return of troops and economic prosperity resulted in the growth of the population. Therefore, marriages and births increased. The fertility rate of 3.84 children per woman before Great Depression (1920s) was known as The Baby Boom. -
Immigration Act of 1952
Immigration Act of 1952 specified the criteria used to allow immigrants entry. British subjects, French citizens, US residents, Asians that already had family in Canada were prioritized. The
Act excluded some people such Asians, without family in Canada, Indians, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans. -
Quiet Revolution
After the Bay Boom, women no longer wanted to have as many children and wanted jobs of their own. Due to this and because of the introduction of contraception, the birth rate declined. -
Immigration Act of 1967
The Immigration Act of 1967 was created to encourage population growth in Canada. In addition, alternative objectives were as follows;
enrich cultural heritage, facilitate family reunions, facilitate the adaptation of new residents into society, selection with non-discriminatory criteria and maintain humanitarian attitude towards refugees. -
Bill 101
The Quebec government enacted Bill 101 in order to protect the French language in Quebec and made it so immigrant children had to go to French school. -
Quebec government policies after 1980
After 1980, the policies that the Quebec government created to help increase the population were as follows; office de garde a l’enfance,
tax breaks for having children, CPE’s and QPIP (QC parental insurance plan). -
Aging population
Baby Boomers are getting older, therefore changes occur to Quebec's society in order to accommodate the older population. Healthcare costs go up, the mandatory age of retirement was abolished, pension plans will suffer and the government must also supply the population with more infrastructures (hospitals and residences) to take care of the increased amounts of people that will be attending them.
