3380 people -1955 men and 1425 women - who settled during the 17th century are considered as forming the root of the Canadian population. As research stands today, 146 adults were originating from the little province of Perche, starting in 1634. University research currently underway should allow us to revise this somewhat modest figure.

That said, the number of direct descendents of these pioneers is today evaluated at more than one and a half million in Canada. This figure does not include the movement of the population across North America, or the presence of these same surnames in the ancestry of a wide majority of Canadians that today carry a different family name.

The explanation of this astonishing genealogical presence comes from the fact that emigrants from Perche were the largest in number to settle in Quebec and on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River.