Question: when did european settlers first come to canada
Answer: The Norse , who had settled Greenland and Iceland , arrived around the year 1000 and built a small settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of Newfoundland ( carbon dating estimate 990 -- 1050 CE ) L'Anse aux Meadows is also notable for its connection with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Erikson around the same period or , more broadly , with Norse exploration of the Americas .