Colonists in New France started using the maple leaf as a symbol in the XVII and XVIII centuries. After the conquest of Quebec by Great Britain, the French residents of Quebec maintained the symbol, and it was adopted by the Societé St-Jean-Baptiste (originally a French-Canadian social/charitable group, now a nationalist group) in 1834.

In the 1860s, what is now Canada consisted of a variety of British colonies in North America. The Province of Canada was made up of Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East (Quebec). New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, British Columbia and Vancouver Island were other established British colonies. Confederation occurred in 1867, when Canada, NB, and NS joined to form the Dominion of Canada (the other colonies would join later on, with Newfoundland holding out until 1949). The Province of Canada minted coins beginning in 1858, and the 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 20 cent pieces all featured the maple leaf.

The Queen granted official arms to the new dominion and provinces in 1868. Both Ontario and Quebec displayed the maple leaf prominently. The original arms of the Dominion of Canada consisted of the four provincial arms, thus displaying the maple leaf again. This is about when the maple leaf ceased to be a purely French-Canadian symbol, and became a pan-Canadian symbol.

The first Canadian penny was minted in 1876, and also featured a maple leaf encirclement. The maple leaf had become so strongly entwined with Canada by the 1880s, that it was added, along with the beaver, to the Canadian Pacific Railroad logo to make it appear more "canadian" in 1886.

It's worth noting at this point that Canada did not have an official flag until the 1960s. The Union Flag was the only official flag in Canada. The Canadian Red Ensign, a common British flag design, was used by Canadian interests home and abroad. By the 1950s, there was a strong feeling in Canada that a uniquely Canadian flag was needed. After very acrimonious debate, the maple leaf flag was adopted on 15 February 1965.