- Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , the "father of New France," was born between 1567 and 1570 in the town of Brouage, a seaport on France's west coast and died in 1635. A sailor, he also came to be respected as a talented navigator, mapmaker, and founder of Quebec City. He was also integral in opening North America up to French trade, especially the fur trade. His influence is still felt in the presence of French Canadians in Quebec, where he did most of his exploring.
- Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier (December 31, 1491 - September 1 1557) was a French navigator who first explored and described the Gulf of St-Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named Canada.
- Martin Frobisher
Martin Frobisher was an English seaman (from Wakefield, Yorkshire) who made three voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage. All landed in northeastern Canada, around today's Resolution Island and Frobisher Bay. On his second voyage, Frobisher found what he thought was gold and carried 200 tons of it home on three ships, where initial assaying determined it to be worth a profit of £5 per ton.
- Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson (September 12, 1570s - 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. His place of birth was London, England. He is presumed to have died in 1611 in Hudson Bay, Canada, after he was set adrift, along with his son and eight others, by mutinous crewmen. Hudson's early life is an unknown, but he is thought to have spent many years at sea. He is said to have begun as a cabin boy at 16 and gradually worked his way up to ship's captain.
- Alexander MacKenzie
Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764 - March 11, 1820) was a Scottish-Canadian explorer. MacKenzie was born in Stornoway on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. In 1774 his family moved to New York, and then to Montreal in 1776 during the American Revolution. In 1779 he obtained a job with the North West Company, on whose behalf he travelled to Lake Athabasca and founded Fort Chipewyan in 1788. He was sent to replace Peter Pond, a partner in the North West Company.
- Henry Kelsey
Henry Kelsey (c. 1667 - 1724), also known as Boy Kelsey, was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing the Hudson's Bay Company. Kelsey was born and married in East Greenwich, south-east of central London. During the years 1690 to 1691, Kelsey explored Northern Manitoba from Hudson's Bay to the Saskatchewan River. He is traditionally believed to be the first white man to see what is now Alberta.
- James Cook
Captain James Cook FRS RN (27 October 1728 (O.S.) – 14 February 1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer. Ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy, Cook was the first to map Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia, the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
- John Cabot
Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450 - c.1498), known in English as John Cabot, and in French as Jean Cabot, was a Genoese navigator and explorer commonly credited as one of the first early modern Europeans to land on the North American mainland, aboard the "Matthew" in 1497.
- John Franklin
Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin FRGS (April 15, 1786 - June 11, 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer who mapped almost two thirds of the northern coastline of North America and whose last expedition disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The entire crew perished from starvation and exposure after Franklin died and the expedition's icebound ships were abandoned in desperation.
- Simon Fraser
Simon Fraser (1776-18 August 1862) was a fur trader and an explorer who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. Fraser was employed by the Montreal-based North West Company and by 1805 had been put in charge of all the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He was responsible for building that area's first trading posts, and in 1808 he explored what is now known as the Fraser River, which bears his name.
- John Rae
John Rae (September 30, 1813 - July 22, 1893) was a Scottish explorer of Canada's Arctic. Rae was born at the Hall of Clestrain in the parish of Orphir in the Orkney Islands. After studying medicine at Edinburgh he went into the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as a doctor. He accepted a post as surgeon at Moose Factory, Ontario and remained there for ten years.
- Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first successful Antarctic expedition to the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. With Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Amundsen was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
- David Thompson
David Thompson (April 30, 1770 - February 10, 1857), was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "the Stargazer". Over his career he mapped over 3.9 million square kilometres of North America and for this has been described as the "greatest land geographer who ever lived."
- Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet, also known Louis Joliet (baptised September 21, 1645 - May 22 1700), was a Canadian explorer born in Quebec who is important for his discoveries in North America. Jolliet and missionary Jacques Marquette were the first Europeans to map the Mississippi River.
- George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN (June 22, 1757 - May 12, 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of North America, including the Pacific coast along the Canadian province of British Columbia and the modern day American states of Washington and Oregon. He also explored the southwest coast of Australia and negotiated agreements with Hawaii's king Kamehameha I.
- William Baffin
William Baffin (1584 - January 23, 1622) was an English navigator and discoverer. Nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance. The earliest mention of his name occurs in 1612, in connection with an expedition in search of a Northwest Passage, under the orders of Captain James Hall, whom he accompanied as chief pilot.
- Thomas Button
Sir Thomas Button (d. April, 1634) was a British officer of the Royal Navy and Explorer who in 1612-1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer Henry Hudson and to navigate the Northwest Passage. It was, none the less, a voyage of discovery. Button sailed from England about the beginning of May, 1612, …
- John Davis
John Davis (1543-December 29 1605), was one of the chief English navigators and explorers under Elizabeth I, especially in Polar regions. Davis was born at Sandridge near Dartmouth 1543. From a boy he was a sailor, and early went on voyages with Adrian Gilbert; both the Gilbert and Raleigh families were Devonians of his own neighbourhood, and through life he seems to have profited by their friendship.
- Sebastian Cabot
Sebastian Cabot (c. 1484 - 1557, or soon after), originally Sebastiano Caboto, was an Italian explorer, born probably in Venice. Sebastian Cabot told Englishman Richard Eden that he was born in Bristol and carried to Venice at four years of age. However, he also told Gasparo Contarini, the Venetian ambassador at the court of Charles V that he was Venetian, educated in England. Contarini noted it in his diary.
- Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist. He was born at Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, of Icelandic descent. He was educated in the universities of North Dakota and of Iowa (A.B., 1903). He studied anthropology at the graduate school of Harvard University, and for two years was an instructor there.
- John Ross
Sir John Ross (June 24, 1777 - August 30, 1856) was a Scottish rear admiral and Arctic explorer. Ross was the son of the Rev. Andrew Ross, minister of Inch, near Stranraer in Scotland. In 1786, aged only nine, he joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice. He served in the Mediterranean until 1789 and then in the English Channel. In 1808 he acted as a captain of the Swedish Navy and in 1812 became a Commander.
- Alexander Henry
Alexander Henry (? - 22 May 1814) was a Canadian fur trader and explorer employed by the North West Company. He is well known for his extensive journals which he started in 1799. They contain an excellent record from the early 19th century of the fur trade. Alexander travelled and traded extensively from Lake Superior to the mouth of the Columbia River where he died in a boating accident.
- Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette (June 10, 1637-May 18, 1675) and Louis Jolliet were the first Europeans to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River. Father Marquette was born in Laon, France, and joined the Society of Jesus at age seventeen. After working and teaching in France for several years, he was dispatched to Quebec in 1666 to preach to the Native Americans, where he showed great proficiency in the local languages, especially Huron.
- Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson was a French-born explorer and fur trader. His exploits in 1668 were instrumental in the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company. He came to New France as a teenager and was captured in an Iroquois raid circa 1652, but was adopted by his captors and became accustomed to their way of life. Radisson escaped once but he was recaptured and tortured.
- Miguel Corte-Real
Miguel Corte-Real (c.1448 - 1502?) was a 15th century Portuguese explorer. He was a son of João Vaz Corte-Real and a brother of explorer Gaspar Corte-Real. Gaspar disappeared somewhere near Newfoundland in 1501. In May of the following year, Miguel set out an expedition to search for him, but he too disappeared. He is thought to have perished in a storm. Some scholars believe that Miguel Corte-Real carved inscriptions on the controversial Dighton Rock, …
- Christopher Middleton
Christopher Middleton (late 1600s - February 12, 1770) was an English navigator. In May 1741 he left England and sailed to North America in search of a Northwest Passage to the East Indies. He spent the winter at the entrance of the Churchill River in Hudson Bay. He then proceeded as far north as Repulse Bay, but was prevented from going further by the ice. He returned to England in 1742, where he was presented with the Copley Medal and elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
- John Stuart
John Stuart (12 September 1780 - 14 January 1847) was a nineteenth century Canadian fur trader and explorer, employed by the North West Company. Stuart is best known as one of the two clerks (the other being James McDougall) who participated in Simon Fraser's explorations of present-day British Columbia, Canada from 1805 to 1808. After Fraser returned to his work in the Athabaska Department in 1809, …
- Leif Ericson
Leif Ericson (c. 970 - c. 1020) was an Icelandic explorer known to be the first European to have landed in North America (in Newfoundland, Canada).
- Jean Nicolet
Jean Nicolet (Nicollet) de Belleborne was a French voyager noted for exploring the Northwest Territory. In 1618 he came to Quebec as a clerk and to train as an interpreter for the Compagnie des Marchands, a trading monopoly owned by members of the French aristocracy. As an employee, Jean Nicolet was a devotee of the Roman Catholic Church and a faithful supporter of the Ancien Régime. On his arrival in Quebec, in order that he learn their language, …
- Peter Pond
Peter Pond ( 1739 or 1740 - 1807) was born in Milford, Connecticut. He was a soldier with a Connecticut regiment, a fur trader, founding member of the North West Company, an explorer and cartographer. Despite his accomplishments he died in relative obscurity and poverty in his birthplace. He began his fur trading career with his father out of Detroit, Michigan. He traded throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Through his business he became acquainted with Alexander Henry, …
- René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi basin for France.
- Erik The Red
Erik the Red founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. Born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway as the son of Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson (Thorvald Asvaldsson), he therefore also appears, patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson (or as Eiríkr Þorvaldsson). The appellation "the Red" refers to his red facial hair.
- Juan de Fuca
Juan de Fuca (born 1536 as Ioannis Phokas in Kefalonia, Greece; died 1602 in Zákynthos, Greece, often reported as Apostolos Valerianos), was a Greek captain employed by Spain to sail northward from Mexico and look for a northern passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1592, his exploration took him into the body of water, the Strait of Juan de Fuca (since 1788 named after him).
- George Back
Sir George Back (6 November 1796 - 23 June 1878) was a British naval officer, explorer of the Canadian Arctic and artist. Back was born in Stockport. As a boy, he went to sea as a volunteer in the frigate HMS "Arethusa" in 1808, but was captured by the French the following year and remained a prisoner until the peace of early 1814. During his captivity, Back practiced his skills as an artist, which he later put to use in recording his travels through the Arctic.
- George Dixon
Captain George Dixon RN (1755? - 1800) was an English sea captain and explorer. He served under Captain Cook in his third expedition, where he learned about the commercial possibilities along the northwest coast of North America. After the end of Cook's expedition, Dixon became a captain in the Royal Navy.
- Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall (1821 - November 8, 1871) was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He grew up in Rochester, New Hampshire where he was apprenticed to a blacksmith as a boy. Eventually, he turned up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he went into business making seals and engraving plates, and later began to publish a newspaper.
- Marie-Anne Gaboury
Marie-Anne Lagimodière, née Gaboury was a French-Canadian woman noted as both the grandmother of Louis Riel, and as the first woman of European descent to travel to and settle in what is now Western Canada.
- Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne (1745 - November 1792), English explorer of northern North America, was born in London. In 1756 he entered the navy, and was some time with Lord Hood; at the end of the Seven Years' War (1763) he took service with the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1768 he examined portions of the Hudson Bay coasts with a view to improving the cod fishery, and from 1769 to 1772 he was employed in north-western discovery, …
- Frederick William Beechey
Frederick William Beechey (February 17, 1796 - November 29, 1856) was an English naval officer and geographer. He was the son of Sir William Beechey, RA., and was born in London. In 1806 he entered the navy, and saw active service during the wars with France and America. In 1818 he served under Lieutenant (afterwards Sir) John Franklin in David Buchan's Arctic expedition, …
- Louis Hennepin
Father Louis Hennepin, baptized Antoine was a Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollect order (French: "Récollets") and an explorer of the interior of North America. Hennepin was born in Ath, province of Hainaut, Belgium, but became French in 1659, when Béthune, the town where he lived, was captured by the army of Louis XIV of France. At the request of Louis XIV the Récollets sent four missionaries to New France in May 1675, …