How did Loyalist migration after the American Revolution affect Montreal?

The migration of Loyalists to the region following the American Revolution significantly altered the demographic and political landscape of what was then the province of Quebec, including Montreal.12

As English-speaking Loyalists flooded into the region seeking new homesteads, their presence transformed the character of the population, which had been predominantly French Canadian and Roman Catholic since the British takeover of New France. These newcomers introduced English place names to the landscape and brought different expectations regarding land ownership and governance. Specifically, many Loyalists desired land held in simple ownership—a practice not permitted under the existing civil law of Quebec—and sought representative government.132

These pressures contributed to the passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791, which divided the territory into two separate colonies: Lower Canada (modern-day Quebec) and Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario). In Montreal, this influx initiated a long-term shift in the city's social fabric, eventually leading to a period where those of British origin constituted the majority of the population from the early 1830s to the mid-1860s.231