Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France
During the first decades of the colony's existence, the French population numbered only a few hundred, while the English colonies to the south were much more populous and wealthy. Cardinal Richelieu, adviser to Louis XIII, wished to make New France as significant as the English colonies. In 1627, Richelieu founded the Company of One Hundred Associates to invest in New France, promising land parcels to hundreds of new settlers and to turn Canada into an important mercantile and farming colony. Champlain was named Governor of New France and Richelieu forbade non-Roman Catholics from living there. Protestants were required to renounce their faith prior to settling in New France; many therefore chose instead to move to the English colonies.