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1400
The first Indigenous peoples migrate to lands now known as Canada. They are thought to be ancestors of Indigenous nations that exist today
14 000 BCE -
1401
The first Norse Viking explorers arrive at Canada’s east coast (Newfoundland), making a Early 1000s short-lived settlement called Vinland.
Early 1000s -
1497
Explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) claims land in Newfoundland for England.
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1534
French explorer Jacques Cartier arrives in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and claims the region for France. He is friendly and trades with Mi’kmaq people.
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Samuel de Champlain arrives in eastern Canada. Wendat people help him develop a map.
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French explorer Samuel de Champlain establishes a permanent settlement called Québec, which becomes the capital of New France.
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Period: to
First Nations and the French sign the Great Peace of Montreal to end the decades long Beaver Wars for control over the fur trade
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Coureurs de bois begin to trade with First Nations peoples in eastern Canada.
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The Hudson's Bay Company is chartered by the English Crown, giving it a monopoly on fur trading in the Hudson Bay region.
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France and England sign the Treaty of Utrecht peace agreement. New France becomes mostly under the rule of England.