Frenchman introducing canon backing restoration (7)
I believe the answer is:
renewal
'restoration' is the definition.
(I know that renewal is a type of restoration)
'frenchman introducing canon backing' is the wordplay.
'frenchman' becomes 'rene' (common French name).
'introducing' says to put letters next to each other (some letters go before others).
'canon' becomes 'law' (canon can mean a law or principle).
'backing' says the letters should be written backwards.
'law' in reverse letter order is 'wal'.
'rene'+'wal'='RENEWAL'
(Other definitions for renewal that I've seen before include "reconditioning" , "Renovation, revival" , "Extension (of a licence)" , "Extension of validity" , "Rehabilitation" .)