Habitants

[1] When habitants were granted the title deed to a lot, they had to agree to accept a variety of annual charges and restrictions.

The seigneur was obligated to build a gristmill for his tenants, who in turn were required to grind their grain there and to provide him with one sack of flour out of every 14.

The seigneur was also allowed to a specific number of days of labour by habitants and to claim rights over fishing, timberm, and common pastures.

[3] Though the seigneurs' demands became more significant at the end of French rule, they could neither obtain enough resources from the rents and fees imposed on the habitants alone to become truly wealthy or to leave their tenants in poverty.

[4] Habitants were free individuals; seigneurs simply owned a "bundle of specific and limited rights over productive activity within that territory".

Seigneurs also received lods et ventes if habitants sold their land that was equivalent to one twelfth of the sale price.

In addition, some habitants were responsible for completing one to four days of mandatory work during the sowing, harvesting, or haying seasons, which were called corvées.

The significantly greater male population often allowed women their choice of partner, and arranged marriages were infrequent.

The Catholic Church played an important role in the habitants' lives; it was the parish that recorded all the births, marriages, and deaths in the colony.