The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763 by England, Spain, France and Portugal, put an end to the Seven Years' War. France, which lost virtually all its North American possessions, retained only the fishing rights off a section of the Newfoundland coast, and ownership of the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon "to serve as shelter for French fisherman." The Royal Proclamation issued by London on October 7, 1763, defined the boundaries of the colony. Acadia was included with Nova Scotia, Labrador and the Īle d'Anticosti with Newfoundland, while the Great Lakes region came directly under the British Crown. The former French colony, which had once covered almost all of the North American continent, was now renamed the province of Quebec, and limited to the St. Lawrence Valley. The Treaty of Paris granted the inhabitants of Canada the freedom to practice the Catholic religion, and allowed them 18 months in which to return to France if they wished. In fact, most Canadians chose to remain in the colony.