The Metis, Inuits, and First Nations were the first groups of settlers to live in Canada. However, due to European colonization, the numbers of these indigenous people severely dwindle as a result. Aside from that, a big chunk of the population suffered from diseases such as influenza and measles. The number of their people then declined further.
The descendants of the Norse people who used to settle in Greenland and Iceland were the first group of Europeans to reach Newfoundland in the 9th Century. The following Century, the expedition of Giovanni Caboto, who is an Italian navigator who was on their way to Asia, arrived. From then on, there was a steady influx of English and French who showed interest in the business opportunities in Newfoundland.
There was an increase of French trading in the 17th Century with the New France Company, which was later rivaled by England’s Hudson Bay Company that sparked the Anglo-French war that lasted for seven years at the end of 1750 and beginning of the 1760s. It came to an end when Quebec, the French Canadian Capital, surrendered to the English Army. It was then during the treaty of Paris that all the Northwest colonies of France were awarded to the British.
However, the British occupation did not last long. The British were evicted from all American territories after their fall in the American War of Independence. Those who supported the USA against the British Empire occupied Eastern Canada. There then, there became a division between the existing French-speaking communities and the recent English speaking settlers that resulted in an agreement of segregation which failed and was replaced by a unifying system.
In the 19th Century, the political climate of Canada was dominated by Pierre Trudeau. Pierre Trudeau’s followed his footsteps. Justine Pierre Trudeau was elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada in 2015. As a progressive leader, the younger Trudeau championed gender equality.