Why did Loyalists move into Quebec after the American Revolution?

Following the American Revolution, many colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown—known as United Empire Loyalists—fled the new republic to seek refuge in British-controlled territories, including Quebec.1

These individuals, primarily frontier folk from areas such as Pennsylvania and upper New York, were often driven from their homes by neighbors who used the political upheaval of the revolution to dispossess them of their lands. Upon arriving in Quebec, these refugees settled along the St. Lawrence River, west of the existing French settlements.1

Their arrival significantly transformed the province's demographic and political landscape. Because the Quebec Act of 1774 had established a system based on French civil law and lacked an elected assembly, the incoming Loyalists—who desired land ownership in simple terms and representative government—found the existing legal framework unsatisfactory. This tension ultimately led to the passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791, which reorganized the province to better accommodate the needs of the new English-speaking population.12