Governor Frederick Haldimand believed that present-day Quebec was the rightful patrimony of French Canadians, which should be reserved for their future settlement.

He preferred to maintain the area immediately north of the U.S. border uninhabited for the moment, as a "buffer zone" between the two countries. He also feared that if the Loyalists settled there, renewed hostilities with the U.S. could result, as well as extensive smuggling. Therefore he insisted that most of the Loyalists move to what is now Ontario, where some had already settled in the Niagara and Detroit areas. These, along with the First Nations, numbered 8,000 or more.

Those permitted to remain in Quebec settled at Sorel or in the Gaspé. Haldimand intended to forcibly remove Loyalists resident in the Missisquoi Bay area, but, after his return to England in 1784, they were permitted to stay by Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton, who was more attentive to their petitions and more open to Loyalist settlement along the border. The administration had no control over Loyalists not receiving land grants or subsidies from the government, however; and there resulted a modest diffusion of the more affluent families throughout the province.

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