Grade 7 · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 10
New France & the Fur Trade
Life in the colony
What your child practises
Daily life in New France (seigneurs and habitants, towns, Church), the fur trade and its partnerships with First Nations, the Métis, and migrant fishers, compared with life in Canada today.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 7.1 · daily life in New France, the fur trade and partnerships with First Nations
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Who were the Métis, historically?
- A group of settlers from Britain
- People who lived only in cities
- Soldiers sent from France
- A distinct Indigenous people whose roots lie in relationships between First Nations and European fur traders, with their own language and culture
Show answer
A distinct Indigenous people whose roots lie in relationships between First Nations and European fur traders, with their own language and culture
Hint: The Métis Nation has its own identity, and Métis communities continue today.
Question 2
What was a coureur des bois?
- A court judge
- A school teacher
- A town baker
- A person who travelled inland to trade furs, often without a licence
Show answer
A person who travelled inland to trade furs, often without a licence
Hint: The name means 'runner of the woods'.
Question 3
Which is a key difference between life in New France and life in Canada today?
- Most people then worked in offices
- Everyone voted in elections
- Most people then lived in rural communities and farmed; today most Canadians live in towns and cities
- Most people had cars then
Show answer
Most people then lived in rural communities and farmed; today most Canadians live in towns and cities
Hint: In New France, about four in five people lived outside the main towns.
Question 4
In New France, what was a habitant?
- A governor
- A ship's captain
- A fur trade company
- A farmer who rented land from a seigneur
Show answer
A farmer who rented land from a seigneur
Hint: Habitants paid rent and owed some work to the seigneur.
Question 5
In what year did the Hudson's Bay Company receive its royal charter?
- 1670
- 1608
- 1713
- 1759
Show answer
1670
Hint: The charter was granted by King Charles II.
Question 6
Which company received a royal charter in 1670 to trade furs from the Hudson Bay region?
- the Canada Company
- the Hudson's Bay Company
- the Bank of Montreal
- the North West Company
Show answer
the Hudson's Bay Company
Hint: The Hudson's Bay Company is one of the oldest companies in North America.