"A few acres of snow" (in the original French, "quelques arpents[a] de neige", French pronunciation: [kɛlkə.z‿aʁpɑ̃dəˈnɛːʒ], with "vers le Canada") is one of several quotations from 18th-century writer French Voltaire, indicative of his sneering evaluation of the colony of Canada as lacking economic value and strategic importance to 18th-century France.
In Voltaire's time, Canada was the name of a territory of New France that covered most of modern-day southern Quebec. However, "Canada" was also commonly used as a generic term to cover all of New France, including the whole of the Louisiana territory, as well as modern-day southern Ontario, Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The meaning of "Canada" that Voltaire intended is a matter of some dispute.
The exact phrase "quelques arpents de neige" first appears in 1759 in chapter 23 of Voltaire's book Candide, but the phrase "a few acres of ice" appeared in a letter he wrote in 1757. Voltaire wrote similar sarcastic remarks in other works.
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