<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> <P> In 1608 Champlain founded what is now Quebec City, one of the earliest permanent settlements, which would become the capital of New France . He took personal administration over the city and its affairs, and sent out expeditions to explore the interior . Champlain himself discovered Lake Champlain in 1609 . By 1615, he had travelled by canoe up the Ottawa River through Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay to the centre of Huron country near Lake Simcoe . During these voyages, Champlain aided the Wendat (aka "Hurons") in their battles against the Iroquois Confederacy . As a result, the Iroquois would become enemies of the French and be involved in multiple conflicts (known as the French and Iroquois Wars) until the signing of the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701 . </P> <P> The English, led by Humphrey Gilbert, had claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1583 as the first North American English colony by royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I. In the reign of King James I, the English established additional colonies in Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland, and soon after established the first successful permanent settlements of Virginia to the south . On September 29, 1621, a charter for the foundation of a New World Scottish colony was granted by King James to Sir William Alexander . In 1622, the first settlers left Scotland . They initially failed and permanent Nova Scotian settlements were not firmly established until 1629 during the end of the Anglo - French War . These colonies did not last long except the fisheries in Ferryland under Sir David Kirke . In 1631, under Charles I of England, the Treaty of Suza was signed, ending the war and returning Nova Scotia to the French . New France was not fully restored to French rule until the 1632 Treaty of Saint - Germain - en - Laye . This led to new French immigrants and the founding of Trois - Rivières in 1634 . </P>

Canada gained its independence from which nation in 1867