Among the immigrants who settled in Leelanau County were those from Canada. Whether they became U.S. citizens or registered as permanent resident aliens, these Canadians have contributed to Leelanau County's history.

Some communities in Leelanau County had their beginnings with Canadian settlers. Two of them were started by one family. Antoine Manseau and his son were born in Canada and arrived in the U.S. in 1838. In 1853 they settled at the mouth of the Carp River. Father and son built a dam and sawmill on the river which were the beginnings of Leland, which would later serve as the county seat from 1883 to the early 21st century. In 1856, the senior Manseau bought an acre of land on a creek which he named Kenosha Creek, and in 1859 he built a dam on the creek and a flour mill for processing grain. In 1882, Antoine II built an addition onto the mill. The mill remained in the Manseau family until it was sold in 1906. The mill was closed in 1934, but its wheels for grinding the grain into flour can still be seen today between Suttons Bay and Omena on M-22. The site was known as Manseau, but it never consisted of anything more than the flour mill.

Another Leelanau County community of Canadian origin was the town of Keswick. It had its beginning in 1872 when Reverend John Lawrence, who was born in Keswick, New Brunswick, settled near the site. A gristmill was built nearby the new town, and a post office was established for it in September 1889. At its peak Keswick's population reached 200, but by 1910 only 40 residents remained and the post office was closed that same year. Now only the Keswick Methodist Church remains to show the sign of a village, located on County Road 633 between Bingham and Suttons Bay.

Norrisville, though not settled by Canadians, had one early settler named Jacob Groessner, who was originally from Hamilton, Ontario. Norrisville was renamed Greilickville in 1897. Provemont was another village that became home to some French-Canadian settlers; it was renamed Lake Leelanau in 1924.

Leelanau County also contains place names that recall Canada, even if only indirectly. For example, Elmwood Township has a namesake in the form of a small community in Ontario named Elmwood. The maple leaf is of course Canada's emblem, and the township once had a one room schoolhouse, located near Bugai and Lincoln Roads, named Maple Leaf School, which operated from about 1880 to about 1940. Maple City may be indirectly associated with Maple Leaf, Ontario, as may Cedar with its namesake in British Columbia. Finally, St. Joseph Catholic Church at Leelanau County's Bohemian Settlement recalls one of Canada's patron saints.

Authored by Thomas Baird