Final answer:
The first people to inhabit Canada were Indigenous groups known as First Nations. Norse explorers also arrived in Canada around the year 1000 CE. However, the permanent contact and colonization of Canada by Europeans came later with Portuguese and Spanish explorers in the Age of Exploration.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first people to inhabit Canada were indigenous groups, commonly known as First Nations, or Indigenous peoples. They lived throughout the regions before the arrival of Europeans, seeking new trade routes, land, fur, religious conversions, and other resources. Around the year 1000 CE, Norse explorers from Europe and Iceland, such as Leif Erikson, established a presence in Greenland and eventually explored parts of North America.
They encountered Indigenous peoples in what is now northern Newfoundland, establishing a small trade relationship with them. It is important to note that the Norse settlements in Canada did not become permanent, and Indigenous groups developed hostility towards the Vikings. The permanent contact and colonization of Canada by Europeans came later with Portuguese and Spanish explorers during the Age of Exploration.