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The King of France, François I, chose him to find certaines îles et pays où l'on dit qu'il se doit trouver grande quantité d'or et autres riches choses ("certain islands and lands where it is said there are great quantities of gold and other riches"). In 1534 he set sail looking for a western passage to Asia. He explored parts of what are now Newfoundland (starting on May 10 of that year) and the Canadian Maritimes and where he learned of a river further west (the St. Lawrence River) that he believed might be the much searched-for northwest passage. He landed for the first time at present day Gaspé, Quebec where he planted a cross and claimed the territory for France. He then sailed up to Québec City, then called Stadacona. During this trip he kidnapped Chief Donnacona 's 2 sons, Domagaya and Taignoagny and took them back to Europe.

Cartier set sail for a second voyage on May 19May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). There are 226 days remaining. Events 1535 French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with 3 ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's 2 s of the following year with 3 ships, 110 men, and the abducted boys (who were returned to the chief). He sailed upriver to the Huron village of Stadacona and IroquoisThe Iroquois Confederacy is a group of First Nations/ Native Americans. Based in upstate New York at the time of the arrival of the Europeans, they now occupy territory in Ontario, Quebec, and New York. The spiritual union of the nations began before Euro Hochelaga ( MontrealMontreal (/mVn. tri"Al/ in English, /mO~. re"al/ in French) is the largest city in the province of Quebec, Canada, where it also constitutes an administrative region. It is Canada's second most populous city after Toronto ( Statistics Canada), and the sec) and arrived on October 2, 1535. He heard of a country further north, called Saguenay , that was said to be full of gold and other treasures.

On May 23, 1541 he departed St-Malo on his third voyage. This time he was looking for Saguenay; however, he again did not get further than Hochelaga. After a fierce winter spent in Canada, he returned to France the next year. A large part of the sailors died of scurvy when the ship got stuck in the ice without proper food. Cartier had to ask the natives for local traditional medicine, which they gave. Cartier spent the rest of his life in Saint-Malo and his nearby estate, and died in 1557. He died before any permanent settlements were made in the area; that had to wait for Samuel de Champlain in 1608.