Who were the founding peoples of Canada?

The three founding peoples of Canada are Aboriginal, French, and British.

Aboriginal peoples were the original inhabitants. Discover Canada identifies three distinct Aboriginal groups: First Nations (about 65% of Aboriginal people), Métis (about 30%, of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry, mainly in the Prairie provinces, with their own dialect Michif), and Inuit (about 4%, living in scattered communities across the Arctic; the word Inuit means "the people" in Inuktitut).

French settlement began in the 1600s. About 8,500 French settlers arrived in the 1600s and 1700s, becoming the ancestors of today's Quebecers. The Acadians are descendants of French colonists who began settling in what are now the Maritime provinces in 1604.

British settlement brought the English-speaking Christian civilization that, together with French settlers, shaped most of modern Canadian society. Today there are 18 million Anglophones and seven million Francophones.

Canada's two official languages — English and French — directly reflect these founding peoples. The federal government is required by law to provide services throughout Canada in English and French. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.

Aboriginal peoples retain constitutionally protected rights. Aboriginal and treaty rights are in the Canadian Constitution. Territorial rights were first guaranteed through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III, which established the basis for negotiating treaties with the newcomers.

In 2006, the House of Commons recognized that "the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada."