French Canada, also known as "Lower Canada", is a term to distinguish the French Canadian

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 population of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 from English Canada

English Canada

English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...

.

Definition

French Canada (French Speaking Canada) is the part of Canada that speaks french, because part of Canada was Colonised by the French.
Because it has represented different realities at different times, the term French Canada can be interpreted in different ways. Roughly chronologically they are:

Canada, New France

Canada, New France

Canada, New France

Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, each with its own government: Quebec,...

, was the historic homeland of the French Canadian people, the St. Lawrence River valley, in the time of New France

New France

New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

. It corresponds to the southern part of modern Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 excluding the Eastern Townships

Eastern Townships

The Eastern Townships is a tourist region and a former administrative region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed Logan's Line, the geologic boundary between the flat,...

. Later, it was renamed the Province of Quebec

Province of Quebec (1763-1791)

The Province of Quebec was a colony in North America created by Great Britain after the Seven Years' War. Great Britain acquired Canada by the Treaty of Paris when King Louis XV of France and his advisors chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France...

 (1763), Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

 (1791), Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

 (1840), and finally the Province of Quebec (1867) again.

Canadian settlements

All the communities where French Canadian

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

s have settled in North America may be interpreted as French Canada. In this interpretation; Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

; Falher, Alberta

Falher, Alberta

Falher is a town in the Peace Country area of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Municipal District of Smoky River, along Highway 49. Falher is one of the earliest agricultural communities in the Peace Country.-History:...

; Bonnyville, Alberta

Bonnyville, Alberta

Bonnyville, Alberta is a town situated in east-central Alberta between the City of Cold Lake and the Town of St. Paul. It is the seat of the Municipal District of Bonnyville No...

; Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan

Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan

-Education:The town has for the past four decades been noteworthy for College Mathieu, a francophone boarding school for boys and girls who wish to acquire or retain fluency in French...

; St. Boniface, Manitoba; Hawkesbury, Ontario

Hawkesbury, Ontario

Hawkesbury is a town in the Eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada, on the Ottawa River, near the Quebec-Ontario border.It lies on the south shore of the Ottawa River about halfway between Downtown Ottawa and Downtown Montreal in Prescott and Russell Counties. The Long-Sault Bridge links it...

; Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

; Edmundston, New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

; Burlington, Vermont

Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....

 are part of French Canada, while Pontiac

Pontiac, Quebec

Pontiac is a municipality in western Quebec, Canada, in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality on the Rivière des Outaouais , created through the forced amalgamation of North and South Onslow, Quyon, Eardlyy, and Luskville. It should not be confused with the Pontiac Regional...

, Stanstead, and most First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 in Quebec are not. French Canadian communities in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 were called "Little Canada

Little Canada

Little Canada is a name for any of the various communities where French Canadians congregated upon emigrating to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries....

s".

Francophones

Francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 regions of Canada are those areas with large concentrations of French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

-speaking residents. In this sense, Quebec, parts of New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...

, Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

, southern Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, and smaller communities elsewhere fall under this category.

This can also represent the collection of all francophones in Canada, whether or not they live in communities with significant francophone populations. "Francophone" here may mean those who speak French natively, or it may alternatively include those allophones

Allophone (Quebec)

In Quebec, an allophone is a resident, usually an immigrant, whose mother tongue or home language is neither English nor French. The term is also sometimes used in other parts of Canada. The term parallels Anglophone and Francophone, which designate people whose mother tongues are English and...

 in Canada who, in various ways, are sometimes associated with French Canadian society more closely than with English Canadian society.

These Canadian francophones refer to themselves as Québécois

French-speaking Quebecer

French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....

in Quebec, Acadiens in Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...

, Fransaskois

Fransaskois

Fransaskois are francophones or French Canadians living in the Prairie province of Saskatchewan. The term franco-saskatchewanian may also be used on occasion, although in practice it is rare due to its length and unwieldiness.-Population:...

in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Franco-Manitobains

Franco-Manitoban

Franco-Manitobans are a community of French Canadians and other French-speaking people living in Manitoba. Most Franco-Manitobans have roots in Quebec. However, many are of Métis and Belgian ancestry while others have ancestors that came directly from France, its former colonies and other...

in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Franco-Ontarien

Franco-Ontarian

Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....

s in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Franco-Albertain

Franco-Albertan

The Franco-Albertans are an extended community of French Canadians or French-speaking people living in Alberta. They are centred in the Bonnie Doon area of Edmonton, and there are tens of thousands of Franco-Albertans living in communities such as Legal north of Edmonton, Bonnyville, Plamondon, and...

s in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Franco-Colombiens

Franco-Columbian

Franco-Columbians or Franco-Colombiens are French Canadians or French speaking Canadians living in the Canadian province of British Columbia....

in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Franco-Terreneuvien

Franco-Newfoundlander

Franco-Newfoundlanders, also known as Franco-Terreneuvians in English or Franco-Terreneuviens in French, are francophone and/or French Canadian residents of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador...

s in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, Franco-Yukonnais

Franco-Yukonnais

Franco-Yukonnais are francophone and/or French Canadian residents of Yukon, a territory of Canada.French has full official language status in the Yukon.-Demographics:...

in the Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

 and Franco-Ténois

Franco-Tenois

Franco-Ténois, originating from the acronym TNO of the French term for the Northwest Territories of Canada refers to the widespread community of francophones that reside in the Northwest Territories....

in the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

 and Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

. With the exception of the Acadians who have a different history altogether, most French Canadians trace their origins to Quebec, although there are numerous more recent immigrants from various francophone colonies around the world (e.g. Haitians

Haitian immigration to the United States and Canada

Millions of Haitians live abroad, chiefly in North America: the Dominican Republic, United States, Cuba, Mexico , Canada and Bahamas...

).