Circa 28,000 BC- The first people settled in Canada during the Wisconsin glaciation as falling sea levels allowed them to travel across the Bering Strait from Siberia to North America. This period of settlement in the history of Canada is known as the Paleo-Indian period. It is thought that the first people to settle in Canada did so in pursuit of Pleistocene mammals such as woolly mammoths, mastodons and giant beavers. These settlers, the Paleo-Indian Clovis people, are believed by many to be the shared ancestors of all indigenous Canadian people as well as those across the rest of North and South America. This theory has, however, been challenged several times over the last 30 years.
Circa 1,000 AD- The Icelandic Sagas provide the earliest documentation of European exploration in the settlement history of Canada. They describe the attempt of the Norsemen, or Vikings to colonise the Americas, landing in Canada. They suggest that Bjarni Herjólfsson was the first Norseman to see Canada when winds caused him to travel of course in approximately 985 AD on a voyage to Greenland from Iceland. The sagas recount that Leif Ericson landed in Canada around 1001 AD. Although Norse settlements were built in Canada, the attempt at colonisation was foiled when the local indigenous people of Canada drove them out.
1497- John Cabot travelled from England on his ship, the Matthew, searching for a passage to China and the Indies. Cabot and his son, Sebastian, probably landed in Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island. They were the first British people to discover Canada and they claimed the territory for King Henry VII of England. Cabot made a second voyage to North America in 1498.
1534- Jacques Cartier landed in the area of France that is now known as Quebec and claimed it for France. This is a significant site in the history of Canada as the forts and settlements that were built in this area laid the foundations for cities such as Montreal and Quebec.
1603- Samuel de Champlain sailed from Hornfleur in France to the St. Lawrence River and Tadoussac areas of Canada that Jacques Cartier has previously travelled to. Champlain established the First successful New France colony at Port Royal, Canada, in 1605.