<P> Under letters patent from King Henry VII of England, the Italian John Cabot became the first European known to have landed in Canada after the time of the Vikings . Records indicate that on 24 June 1497 he sighted land at a northern location believed to be somewhere in the Atlantic provinces . Official tradition deemed the first landing site to be at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, although other locations are possible . After 1497 Cabot and his son Sebastian Cabot continued to make other voyages to find the Northwest Passage, and other explorers continued to sail out of England to the New World, although the details of these voyages are not well recorded . </P> <P> Based on the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Spanish Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area visited by John Cabot in 1497 and 1498 CE . However, Portuguese explorers like João Fernandes Lavrador would continue to visit the north Atlantic coast, which accounts for the appearance of "Labrador" on topographical maps of the period . In 1501 and 1502 the Corte - Real brothers explored Newfoundland (Terra Nova) and Labrador claiming these lands as part of the Portuguese Empire . In 1506, King Manuel I of Portugal created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters . João Álvares Fagundes and Pêro de Barcelos established fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521 CE; however, these were later abandoned, with the Portuguese colonizers focusing their efforts on South America . The extent and nature of Portuguese activity on the Canadian mainland during the 16th century remains unclear and controversial . </P> <P> French interest in the New World began with Francis I of France, who in 1524 sponsored Giovanni da Verrazzano to navigate the region between Florida and Newfoundland in hopes of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean . Although the English had laid claims to it 1497 when John Cabot made landfall somewhere on the North American coast (likely either modern - day Newfoundland or Nova Scotia) and had claimed the land for England on behalf of King Henry VII, these claims were not exercised and England did not make any attempts at permanent colonization . For the French however, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula in 1534 and claimed the land in the name of Francis I establishing a region called Canada the following summer . Permanent settlement attempts by Cartier at Charlesbourg - Royal in 1541, at Sable Island in 1598 by Marquis de La Roche - Mesgouez, and at Tadoussac, Quebec in 1600 by François Gravé Du Pont had all eventually failed . Despite these initial failures, French fishing fleets sailed the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, trading and making alliances with First Nations, as well as establishing fishing settlements such as in Percé in 1603 . As a result of France's claim and activities in the colony of Canada, the name "Canada" was present on international maps denoting this colony within the St - Lawrence river region . </P> <P> In 1604, a North American fur trade monopoly was granted to Pierre Du Gua, Sieur de Mons . The fur trade became one of the main economic ventures in North America . Du Gua led his first colonization expedition to an island located near the mouth of the St. Croix River . Among his lieutenants was a geographer named Samuel de Champlain, who promptly carried out a major exploration of the northeastern coastline of what is now the United States . In the spring of 1605, under Samuel de Champlain, the new St. Croix settlement was moved to Port Royal (today's Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia). Samuel de Champlain also landed at Saint John Harbour on June 24, 1604 (the feast of St. John the Baptist) and is where the city of Saint John, New Brunswick and the Saint John River gets its name . </P>

Where did the first settlers in canada come from