Mercantilism in New France

Economic relations between France and New France were based on the general principle of mercantilism, wherein the relative wealth of states was evaluated according to their ability to accumulate precious metals, which was fostered by a positive trade balance, a vision shared throughout Europe in the modern era. In this context, a colony like New France served essentially to supply the mother country with raw materials that were then transformed in France and ultimately exported in order to strengthen French foreign trade. To this end, the colony also served as a market for products from France. French mercantile policy regarding production was defined concisely in a royal memo of 1704: “whatever might compete with the manufactures of the realm must never be produced in the colonies.” French colonial policy in Canada was not, however, rigidly mercantilist. Colonial industries duplicating those of the mother country were usually tolerated and often encouraged by France with the aim of promoting a measure of colonial self-sufficiency. Theoreticians of mercantilism envisaged integrated commerce between France’s Atlantic colonies, where New France would achieve long-term economic stability while at the same time serving France’s purpose.