The diplomatic relations between Canada and the French Republic are friendly, the importance of which centres on the history of French immigration to Canada. Canadians of French heritage make up the majority of native speakers of French in Canada, who in turn account for about 22 percent of the country's total population. The small French Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is situated off the coast of Atlantic Canada.
Both nations are mutual members of the G7, G20, OECD, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, NATO, United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
History
European colonization
In 1720, the British controlled Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Northern and much of Western Canada, but otherwise, nearly all of Eastern Canada, from the Labrador shore and on the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes and beyond was under French domination. The gradual conquest of New France by the British, culminating in James Wolfe's victory at the Plains of Abraham in 1759, deprived France of its North American empire. The French of Canada, (the Québécois or habitants, Acadians, Métis, and others) remained.
After the British conquest, French immigration to Canada continued on a small scale until the start of the wars between France and Britain from 1792 to 1815. French books circulated widely, and the French Revolution led many conservative refugees to seek asylum in Canada. The English-speaking population of Canada also grew rapidly after the American Revolution. Francophone opinion among the rural habitants towards France turned negative after 1793. As British subjects, the habitants, led by their conservative priests and landowners, rejected the French Revolution's impiety, regicide, and anti-Catholic persecution. The habitants supported Britain in the War of 1812 against the United States. Many Canadians have also spoken French since their settlement began in 1534.
Dominion of Canada
In early Canadian history, foreign affairs were under the control of the British government. Canada pushed against those legal barriers to further its interests. Alexander Galt, Canada's informal representative in London, attempted to conclude a commercial treaty with France in 1878, but tariff preference for France violated British policy. The Foreign Office in London was unsupportive of sovereign diplomacy by Canada, and France was moving to new duties on foreign shipping and was embarking toward a general policy of protection. Galt's efforts, however, set the stage for a successful treaty in 1893 negotiated by Sir Charles Tupper (1821–1915), Canada's High Commissioner in London. However, that treaty was signed by the British ambassador to France.
In 1910, the Province of Quebec dispatched its own representative to Paris, Hector Fabre. The federal government responded by asking him to become Canada's agent-general in France. He and his successor, Philippe Roy, represented both levels of government informally until 1912, when the new Canadian government asked Roy to resign from the Quebec position because of fears of a possible conflict of interest.
World Wars
A realignment of the great powers made allies of Canada, which was part of the British Empire, and France just in time for the two World Wars that would dominate the first half of the 20th century.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force spent much of the First World War on French soil and helped France to repel the German invasion. It was in France, at Vimy Ridge, that one of the most famous battles in Canadian history took place.
In December 1917, the accidental explosion of the French freighter Mont Blanc, carrying five million pounds of explosives, devastated Halifax, Nova Scotia, killing 2,000 and injuring 9,000. The SS Mont-Blanc had been chartered by the French government to carry munitions to Europe; France was not blamed, and charges against its captain were dropped.
During the Second World War, Canada and France were initially allies against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. After the Fall of France in 1940, most Western governments broke off relations with the Vichy regime, but Canada continued to have relations with Vichy until 1942.
Canada had planned a military invasion of the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Controlled until the end of 1941 by Vichy France, it was the liberation by the Free French under Admiral Muselier that put an end to any invasion by Canada.