The Franciscan Recollects (French: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflection (recollection), focusing on living in small, remote communities to better facilitate these goals. Today they are best known for their activities as missionaries in various parts of the world, most notably in early French Canada.

This branch of the Order had its origins in the 16th century. Officially named the "Order of Friars Minor Recollect", they used the post-nominal initials O.F.M. Rec. (Latin: Ordo fratrum minorum recollectorum) or O.M.R. (Ordo minorum recollectorum). In 1897 Pope Leo XIII dissolved the Recollect branch and merged it, along with several other reform branches of the Order, into the Observant Friars Minor.

In Latin Ordo fratrum minorum recollectorum, this last word is the genitive form of recollecti (sg.: recollectus, a participle of recolligere, ‘to gather’). The word is related to the French words recueilli (‘contemplative, meditative’) and recueillement ("gathering one's thought in contemplation, meditation").

The origin of the name "Recollects" is still debated. Some historians attribute it to the recollection houses (retreats). Others credit it to the orders’ practice of accepting only those who possessed the ability of recollection.

The Recollect branch of the Friars Minor developed out of a reform movement of the Order which began in 16th-century Spain under figures such as Peter of Alcantara, where the followers of the reform were known as Alcantarines. It was observed by communities of friars in France in Tulle in 1585, at Nevers in 1592, at Limoges in 1596 and in Paris at Couvent des Récollets in 1603. The distinctive character of Recollection houses was that they were friaries to which brothers desirous of devoting themselves to prayer and penance could withdraw to consecrate their lives to spiritual reflection. At the same time, they were also active in many pastoral ministries, becoming especially known as military chaplains to the French army.

The French Recollects had 11 provinces, with 2,534 friaries by the late 18th century. The branch was suppressed during the French Revolution.

The Recollects were important as early missionaries to the French colonies in Canada, although they were later displaced by the Jesuits. When Samuel de Champlain returned from his sixth voyage to Canada on 26 May 1613, he made plans to bring missionaries on his next voyage. Champlain had initially turned to the Recollects after receiving advice from his friend Sieur Louis Houel, Secretary to King Louis XIII and controller-general of the salt works at Hiers-Brouage. Houel was familiar with the Recollects who had been established in Brouage since 1610. Since the merchants from the Société des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo were paying Champlain's expensive transportation costs, they insisted he and Houel choose effective yet inexpensive missionaries to join the voyage. Thus, the vows of poverty observed by friars played in their favor. Champlain was also influenced by the successful Franciscan missions in the New World and in Japan. Furthermore, the Jesuit Acadian mission had failed in 1613 following a British raid led by Captain Samuel Argall against Port Royal in present-day Nova Scotia. There had also been resentment towards Jesuits in France at the time when Champlain was planning his mission. Echoes of controversies between the Jesuits and Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just, the lieutenant-governor of Acadia, involving comments made about the regicide of King Henry IV on 14 May 1610, resonated in France. These events persuaded Champlain that the Recollects were the right religious order to bring to New France. The Recollects travelled to New France with Champlain in 1615, where they first arrived at Tadoussac in May 1615, and later travelled to Quebec City in June 1615.

Father Denis Jamet, the commissary overseeing the establishment of the mission in New France, Fathers Joseph Le Caron, Jean Dolbeau, and Brother Pacifique Duplessis (du Plessis) were chosen as missionaries to accompany Champlain. Although the Recollects were not the first religious order in New France (the Jesuits had been in Acadia since 1611), they were the first to enter and establish themselves as an order in the province of Quebec. Upon arrival the Recollet Fathers formed a conclave to divide the territory of Quebec. Jean Dolbeau was assigned the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence Valley, the territory of the Montagnais (Innu), as well as the post of Tadoussac. Joseph Le Caron was given the Huron mission and other Amerindian populations in the regions of the Great Lakes. Denis Jamet receives missions between Quebec City and Trois-Rivières.