2. Major Cities of Canada

3. Quebec Quebec (kwih BEHK) is the capital of the province on Quebec and is the oldest city in Canada. In French, the city is pronounced differently (kay BEHK). Quebec is the only walled city in North America, but most of the city is now outside the walls.

4. Quebec Quebec sits at the point where the St. Charles River flows into the St. Lawrence River. Nearby, the St. Lawrence River narrows to about ½ mile wide. The city’s name comes from an Algonquin Indian word meaning the river narrows here.

5. Quebec Algonquin and Iroquois Indians once farmed and hunted in the area that is now Quebec. Iroquois Indian

6. Quebec Samuel de Champlain, one of the greatest French explorers, explored all along the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He also traveled from the St. Lawrence River to Lake Huron. He was the founder of Quebec, the oldest city in North America north of Florida. Samuel de Champlain

7. Quebec was in a tug of war In 1628, Quebec was attacked for the first time by English troops. In 1629, it came under British control. In 1632, France made a deal to get Quebec back under their control. By 1690, the English tried again to take Quebec. The 1500 people that lived there successfully defended themselves though. The French were very upset that the English were trying to take control.

8. Even in the 1700’s Quebec stayed in the tug of war! In 1711, the British again tried to take Quebec. They had to turn back, though, because a huge storm wrecked many of their ships. In 1759, the British finally took control of Quebec again. In 1763, all of Canada was given to the British at the end of the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War in America in 1775, American troops attacked Quebec. The Americans lost a horrible battle and even the American general died!

9. Montreal In 1534, Jacques Cartier of France became the first European explorer to reach the area that is now Montreal. He climbed to the top of the mountain and named it Mont Real (Mount Royal). In the 1600’s the settlers named the small city York. By the 1700’s the city was known because of the mountain and became known as Montreal.

10. Montreal Montreal (mahn tree AWL) is the largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris. Almost 2/3 of the people that live in Montreal have French ancestors and speak French. Montreal is the second largest city in Canada.

11. Montreal Montreal sits where the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers meet in the southern Quebec province.

12. Montreal Montreal is located on an island and is the only city on the continent built around a mountain. Montreal covers 2/5 of the island. A mountain covered with trees, Mount Royal, sits in the center of the city. Montreal

13. Algonquin and Iroquois Indians lived in the Montreal area before Europeans arrived. The area’s rivers and lakes provided the Indians with lots of fish. The waterways were also great for transportation. Iroquois Indian

14. Montreal In the mid 1600’s the French moved into the Montreal area. Roman Catholics came to try to “convert” the Indians to Christianity. The French settlers began to trade for fur pelts with the Algonquin and Huron Indians. The Huron Indians were rivals of the Iroquois Indians. The Iroquois Indians didn’t like the fur trading that was going on, so they attacked the Montreal area. The French and Iroquois made peace by the 1700’s. Fur trading settlement

15. Montreal Montreal’s location on the St. Lawrence River made it an important trading post. All of the European items came through Montreal on their way to the northern parts of America. Montreal was also near the Ottawa River. This river led explorers to the forests of Canada.

16. Montreal had its own tug of war. Montreal was run by the French until the late 1700’s when British troops captured the city. Not long after this, all of Canada was given to Britain. This meant that a few English-speaking settlers moved into the city. The Americans tried to take over the city during the American Revolution. The Americans wanted the French that were still living there to gang up against the British. More British troops came to Montreal and the French didn’t seem to care, so the American soldiers were forced to leave.

17. Toronto Toronto (tuh RAHN toh) is the capital of the province of Ontario and is the largest city in Canada. Most of Canada’s factories are near Toronto.

18. Toronto Toronto sits on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario and is one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes.

19. During the 1600’s and 1700’s, Indians used the Toronto area as a portage (or overland route) between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. For a while the city was called York. In 1834 the city was renamed Toronto, a Huron Indian word that means meeting place.

20. Toronto Before Europeans arrived, Algonquin and Iroquois Indians lived in the area. The area was at the southern end of an Indian trail between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario

21. Toronto’s tug of war In the early 1700’s the French set up a mission (religious area), fur trading post, and a fort near the harbor of Toronto. In 1759, the French burned the fort to the ground to keep the British from taking it over. A couple of years after that, though, England took control of all of Canada.

22. Toronto’s tug of war In 1787, the Canadians bought all of the land from the Indians to start a city that would be the capital of Ontario. They named it York after the Duke of York in England. During the War of 1812, American troops captured York and burned down parts of it. By 1834, York’s name became Toronto.

23. You will need a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil. Please answer these in sentences. Why do you think people chose to start these cities where they did? Why do you think that parts of Canada would rather speak French than English? What is something that all of these cities have in common?