I understand there were several smaller conflicts in Canada too but I can’t seem to find any that reached the same scale as the American Indian Wars in the US. Was this because Canada was more sparsely populated before colonization or were there fundamental differences in the ways the US and Canada dealt with their Native population?
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Part of the issue with the Canadian case is that because colonial processes shift in terms of which empire is at the helm, there is a different tone to Indigenous relations than in the US. Before the British seizure of New France, French settlers enjoyed a plurality of relationships with Canadian Indigenous societies. Some relationships were hostile, as was the case with the Iroquois. The Algonquins, Hurons, Innu, and Etchemins were trading partners of the French and even contributed to their conflicts against the Iroquois. When the British take over the colony from France, they also inherit the bonds between these Indigenous communities and their new French subjects. Part of the deal for governing Lower and Upper Canada involved navigating the complex relationships of the formerly French colony, forcing the British to make concessions to the francophone population and deal diplomatically with Indigenous peoples lest they suffer an uprising that jeopardize their hold on their new territory.
To meet the colonial agenda, assimilation and negotiation were preferred over conflict. Signing treaties with Indigenous peoples gave the British increased leeway over laying claim to Indigenous territory concerning the broader Canadian dominion, while also allowing ample wiggle room for exploitation of resources within those territories. Now, because colonial governance wielded the legislative and judicial power over the administration of treaties, it was extremely easy for the British to adhere to their commitments selectively. In the wake of establishing treaty boundaries, cultural assimilation began through the passing of Acts that gave sovereignty over Indigenous culture to the Canadian government without having to consult Indigenous peoples meaningfully. The Gradual Civilization Act and Indian Act are early examples of legislation designed to forcefully integrate Canada’s Indigenous peoples into the new British colony. These Acts provided the framework for aggressive assimilation through Christianization, passive besieging of Indigenous lands, and the horrific residential school system that would become staples of British-Indigenous relations in Canada. Both of these acts encountered hurdles, primarily because the extent of Canadian territory had not been fully settled by Europeans and lacked European infrastructural reach. As such, some historians theorize that through gradual cultural erosion, the Canadian government hoped that in the long run, Indigenous peoples would cease to exist and along with that the need to honour treaties. Much of the conflict between the government of Canada and Indigenous communities today is a by-product of failing to commit cultural genocide with Indigenous peoples mobilizing to hold the Canadian government to account for deals it signed, but declined to fulfill.
There were of course rebellions against British colonialism (and there may be more in our lifetime!), but to address your question, the scale was never quite the same because the overall colonial strategy was different. Instead of settling and displacing as a constant policy, the Indigenous situation in Canada is complicated by the fact that there was significant non-confrontational interaction with colonial powers. Displacement and conquest weren’t the default settings of the colonial experience in Canada which meant that there already was a fair amount of coexistence. Under those conditions, waging large scale war wasn’t as viable a strategy so diplomacy was preferred instead. Now, it is important to note that this diplomacy was highly manipulative, flawed, and horrific in its own right and pursued the same ends as US wars against the Indigenous.
For more on the subject, I recommend the following books:
Would you be able to speak about how this approach changed as Canada grew beyond its original borders in the east? For example, I don’t believe many treaties were signed with First Nations peoples in British Columbia or Alberta.