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Champlain founds Quebec in 1608

Broadcast Date: Oct. 29, 2000

Samuel de Champlain wasn't the first Frenchman to reach Québec, but he was the first to stick around. In 1535, explorer Jacques Cartier stopped at the site – it was then an aboriginal village called Stadacona – but settlement wasn't his goal. By 1608, the trade in furs between aboriginals and the French was strong enough to support a permanent post. But, as dramatized in this clip from CBC Television's Canada: A People's History, that first winter in Québec was a harsh lesson for Champlain and his men.

Champlain founds Quebec in 1608

• Not much is known about Samuel de Champlain's early years in France; even his year and place of birth are uncertain, but it's thought he was born in Brouages about 1567.

• In 1603, Champlain voyaged to what is now Canada for the first time. He would return three more times as a cartographer, mapping parts of Acadia and New England, before being asked to establish a French colony on the St. Lawrence River in 1608.

• Champlain explored further into the North American continent until 1615, searching for the elusive passage to Asia. He then gave up exploring to focus on the burgeoning colony of New France.

• Between 1629 and 1632, Champlain was exiled in France while Quebec was temporarily occupied by the British. He returned as governor of the colony in 1633 and died on Dec. 25, 1635.

Champlain founds Quebec in 1608

Medium: Television

Program: Canada: A People's History

Broadcast Date: Oct. 29, 2000

Narrator: Maggie Huculak
Performer: Ghislain Tremblay

Duration: 8:51

Last updated:
July 13, 2009