French Canada, Quebec and the Acadians: what to know

French is one of Canada’s two official languages, and French Canada is part of every period of Canadian history. On the citizenship test you may be asked about Champlain, the Acadians, the Quebec Act, LaFontaine, the Quiet Revolution, official languages or Quebec’s referendums. This article puts those facts in order and shows how they connect. For the full story, read the Canada’s History and Modern Canada primers.

Who is who

In the days of New France, the French-speaking colonists were known as habitants or Canadiens.

New France: explorers, settlers and the fur trade

• Jacques Cartier made three voyages between 1534 and 1542 for King Francis I of France. He was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River. The name “Canada” comes from kanata, an Iroquoian word for “village” that he heard on these voyages.
• In 1604 Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain began the first European settlement north of Florida, first on St. Croix Island and then at Port-Royal, in Acadia.
• In 1608 Champlain built a fortress at the site of Quebec City. He allied with the Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron. The Iroquois fought the French for about a century and made peace in 1701.
• The economy of New France was built on the fur trade, especially beaver pelts, in which the French worked closely with First Nations.
• Jean Talon, Bishop Laval and Count Frontenac helped build New France. In 1690 Frontenac refused to surrender Quebec to the English. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, won many victories over the English.
• By the 1700s, the English colonies on the Atlantic coast had grown richer and more populous than New France.

The Acadians and the Great Upheaval

The Acadians descend from the French colonists who settled in today’s Maritime provinces from 1604. Between 1755 and 1763, during the war between Britain and France, more than two-thirds of the Acadians were deported from their homeland. This is called the Great Upheaval. Despite it, the Acadians kept their identity, and Acadian culture is lively today. Moncton, in New Brunswick, is the main centre of Acadian life.

1759, the Quebec Act and Lower Canada

• 1759. The British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City. Both commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm, were killed. Britain renamed the colony the Province of Quebec.
• 1774, the Quebec Act. To govern the French-speaking Catholic majority better, Britain allowed religious freedom for Catholics and let them hold public office. It restored French civil law and kept British criminal law.
• 1775. Governor Sir Guy Carleton defended the rights of the Canadiens and defeated an American invasion of Quebec.
• 1791, the Constitutional Act. The Province of Quebec was divided into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec), which was mostly Catholic and French-speaking. Each had an elected assembly.
• 1813. In the War of 1812, Charles de Salaberry led about 460 soldiers, mostly French Canadiens, and turned back about 4,000 American invaders at Châteauguay, south of Montreal.

LaFontaine and responsible government

After armed rebellions in 1837–38, including near Montreal, Lord Durham was sent to report. He recommended joining Upper and Lower Canada and giving them responsible government. He also wanted French Canadians to be assimilated into English-speaking Protestant culture, which showed that he did not understand them. In 1840 the two colonies were united as the Province of Canada.

French Canadians did not disappear. Sir Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, a champion of democracy and of French language rights, worked with Robert Baldwin of Upper Canada. When Lord Elgin introduced responsible government in 1848–49, LaFontaine became, in 1849, the first head of a responsible government in Canada.

Cartier and Confederation

Sir George-Étienne Cartier, a railway lawyer from Montreal and Sir John A. Macdonald’s close partner, was the key Father of Confederation from Quebec and led Quebec into Confederation. In 1867 the Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec, which joined Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Dominion of Canada. Do not confuse him with the explorer Jacques Cartier. Our 25 confusing facts guide explains this pair and others.

Other links to remember from this period: O Canada was first sung in Quebec City in 1880, and the execution of Louis Riel in 1885 was strongly opposed in Quebec. Sir Wilfrid Laurier became the first French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation.

The 1900s: the vote, the flag and the Quiet Revolution

• 1940. Women in Quebec won the right to vote in provincial elections, thanks to Thérèse Casgrain and others. Most women had won the federal vote in 1918, and Manitoba was first, in 1916.
• 1948. Quebec adopted its own flag, a white cross with four fleurs-de-lys on blue. The fleur-de-lys was a symbol of French royalty for more than 1,000 years.
• The 1960s: the Quiet Revolution. Quebec changed and modernized very quickly. During this time, some Quebecers began to call for separation from Canada.
• 1963. Parliament set up the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism.
• 1969. The Official Languages Act was passed.
• 1970. Canada helped found La Francophonie, an association of French-speaking countries.

Official languages: federal and provincial

This is a common source of mistakes, so keep the levels apart:

Official bilingualism means the federal government serves people in both languages. It does not mean that every Canadian, or every province, must be bilingual.

French outside Quebec

• Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.
• New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province, and Moncton is the main centre of the Acadians.
• Manitoba: St. Boniface, a part of Winnipeg, has the largest Francophone community in Western Canada.
• Smaller French-speaking communities live in the other provinces as well.

Referendums and recognition

• 1980. Quebec held its first referendum on sovereignty (separation). It was defeated.
• 1982. The Constitution was amended, adding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, without the agreement of Quebec.
• 1995. A second referendum was also defeated, so Quebec remains part of Canada.
• 2006. The House of Commons recognized that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada. This was a recognition, not independence.

Symbols and holidays

Common mix-ups

• Acadians vs Quebecers vs Loyalists vs Métis. Acadians descend from French colonists in the Maritimes. Quebecers are the people of Quebec. Loyalists were English-speaking people loyal to the Crown who came north from the American colonies after 1776. The Métis are a people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, mostly on the Prairies; see our Indigenous peoples guide.
• Federal bilingualism vs Quebec. Canada’s federal government is bilingual; Quebec’s official language is French; New Brunswick is the only bilingual province.
• 1969 vs 1982. 1969 is the Official Languages Act; 1982 is the Constitution and the Charter.
• Great Upheaval vs Quiet Revolution. The Great Upheaval is the Acadian deportation of 1755–1763. The Quiet Revolution is the change in Quebec in the 1960s.
• 1604 vs 1608. 1604 is the first settlement in Acadia; 1608 is Quebec City.
• 1759, 1774, 1791. Battle, then Quebec Act, then Constitutional Act.
• 1980, 1995 and 2006. Two referendums, both defeated; then recognition as a nation within a united Canada.
• LaFontaine, Cartier, Laurier. LaFontaine led the first responsible government (1849). Cartier led Quebec into Confederation (1867). Laurier was the first French-Canadian Prime Minister.
• June 24 vs June 21 vs July 1. Fête nationale, National Indigenous Peoples Day, Canada Day.
• 1948 vs 1965. Quebec’s flag (1948) is older than the maple leaf flag (1965).

Now test yourself: review the Who We Are chapter, then take Practice Test 1.