French Canada

Because it has represented different realities at different points in time, the term French Canada can be interpreted in different ways. Chronologically they are:

1. The historical homeland of the French Canadian people, the St Lawrence river valley, which was called le Canada in the time of New France. Later, this Canada was renamed the Province of Quebec (1763), Lower Canada (1791), Canada East (1840), and finally the Province of Quebec (1867) again. See Quebec.

2. All the communities where French Canadians have settled in North America. In this interpretation, Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Hawkesbury, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, Manchester, New England, Burlington, Vermont are part of French Canada, but Ivujuvik, Quebec, Westmount, Quebec and Sherbrooke, Quebec are not. These French Canadian communities were called "Little Canadas" by the Americans. See Quebec, Canada, and Franco-Americans.

3. All the Canadian communities where there is a significant concentration of French-Canadians, that is, Canadian citizens who speak French. In that sense, it is Quebec, parts of New Brunswick, Northern Ontario, and Saint-Boniface, Manitoba. These Francophones call themselves Québécois, Acadiens, Fransaskois, Franco-Manitobains, Franco-Ontariens, Franco-Albertain and Franco-Colombiens. See Quebec, Acadia, and Canada.