Petite-Rivière-Saint-François (French pronunciation: [pətit ʁivjɛʁ sɛ̃ fʁɑ̃swa]) is a municipality in Quebec, Canada, along the Saint Lawrence River.

In June 1603, Samuel de Champlain sailed past there and wrote about the location: "The following Thursday, we left [Hare Island], and lowered the anchor in a dangerous cove on the north side, where there are some meadows and a little river where the Indians sometimes camp."

The name Petite Rivière ("Little River") stuck, although over time the place has been identified in many other ways: Cap-Raide, Rivière-du-Sot, Anse-aux-Pommiers, l'Abattis (1695), l'Abatis (1755), Vieille-Rivière, Ruisseau-à-la-Nasse, Cap-Maillard, François-Xavier, Côte-de-Saint-François-Xavier' Saint-François-Xavier-de-la-Petite-Rivière-Saint-François.

[1] In 1675, the Seminary of Quebec, owner of the Beaupré Seignory that stretched from Beauport to Baie-Saint-Paul, granted land to Claude Bouchard, followed by another 15 concessions until the end of the 17th century.

The settlement, the oldest in the Charlevoix region, grew at the mouth of the Little River in a deep valley east of Cape Maillard where natural open grassland accommodated the early colonizers.