The merchants would be attracted with what exactly?
Cod.
I recommend Kurlanski's "Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World".
Cod was abundant and its value in the 18th century far outweighted the fur trade in North America. Codfish, being high in protein and with very little fat is excellent for long preservasion and prime source of protein (salted and dried cod is 80% protein). Of course Frenchmen fished the Great Banks and returned to Europe to sell their catch, without the need to settle America. But Europe was only one of the two great cod markets.
How did New Englanders accumulated their capital? They sold low quality saltfish to the sugar islands' plantations. The slaves needed protein rich food to work the sugarcane fields. The cheapest nutritious foodsource was cod, cheaper than salted pork or beef. The European market for high quality cod was serviced by English and French fishermen mostly (although New Engladers took a small share of the market). But New England had cornered the Caribbean market. With the profits from cod, they established distilleries and imported molasses to turn it to rum. Then, they exported rum to Europe and Africa.
This is basically how the american capitalist class was kickstarted. Cod was essential for Yankee commerce in the 18th century.
One of the things some people are not aware is that New England and New France has the best survival rates for colonists due to colder weather which lessened or eliminated many of the tropical diseases that afflicted the colonists in warmer climates.
The settler population was doubling every ~20 years or so, right?
I wonder if catholic Irishmen could have been another source of settlers. There were about 5 irish regiments in Louis XIV's army. Perhaps after serving a few years, they would be entitled to land in New France. After Louis XIV, there was some effort to attract catholic Germans from Alsace. I wonder if it would have been possible in the 1680s. After all, thinning the german population of newly conquered Alsace could have been considered beneficial.