Why go
L'Anse aux Meadows reveals an early Norse presence, while Port Royal and Québec City connect visitors to New France. The later British conquest and the survival of French language and civil law help explain why the historic character of Québec differs from that of many other provinces.
The full story
The first known European settlement attempt in the region was Norse and brief, at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around the year 1000. Much later, European mariners worked the Atlantic fisheries and French expeditions travelled the Saint Lawrence. Samuel de Champlain established settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Québec City in 1608. French colonists settled the river valley, Acadians settled parts of the Maritimes, and fur traders and missionaries travelled farther inland. These movements took place in lands already occupied by Indigenous peoples and involved trade, alliance and conflict. Britain gained control of much of New France after the Seven Years' War. The Quebec Act of 1774 preserved French civil law and Catholic practice in Québec under British rule. In the 19th century, colonial demands for responsible government changed how the provinces were governed. A visit to Atlantic or Québec historic sites can therefore follow several distinct stories: early Norse contact, French settlement, British conquest and the persistence of French institutions.