It was the fur trade which first attracted the French to the St. Lawrence River Valley. Champlain founded the first permanent settlement at Québec in 1608 to establish a fur trade network with the Native population.
In 1634, Champlain sent Laviolette to found Trois-Rivières, in order to be closer to the fur supplies. Thus, the first two settlements, Québec and Trois-Rivières, were founded for economic reasons dealing with the fur trade.
