United Empire Loyalists resettle British North America
Tens of thousands flee the new United States, founding Upper Canada and New Brunswick
Quick facts
- Loyalists relocated
- c. 40,000 to 80,000
- New colonies created
- New Brunswick, Upper Canada
- UE designation
- Proclaimed by Lord Dorchester, 1789
- Included
- Free Black Loyalists, Haudenosaunee allies
What happened
As the American Revolutionary War ended, Loyalists, colonists who had remained loyal to Britain, faced confiscation, exile, or violence in the new United States. About 40,000 to 80,000 fled north, most by ship, settling in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and the region that would become Upper Canada. They were not, contrary to a common assumption, mostly wealthy or aristocratic; the group included farmers, tradespeople, and formerly enslaved Black people who had been promised freedom for serving the British, alongside Indigenous allies, particularly Haudenosaunee, who had also fought for the Crown and now needed new land. In 1789, Governor-in-Chief Lord Dorchester proclaimed that Loyalists and their children could add 'UE' to their names, 'alluding to their great principle, the Unity of Empire,' giving rise to the title United Empire Loyalist.
Why it matters
The Loyalist influx doubled or tripled the English-speaking population of British North America almost overnight, directly leading to the creation of New Brunswick and Upper Canada as separate colonies and cementing a lasting conservative, monarchist strand in English Canadian political culture distinct from the republic to the south.
How we know
Loyalist claims records, in which refugees petitioned Britain for compensation for lost American property, along with settlement patterns documented by the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Encyclopedia, provide numbers and demographic detail on the migration.
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia. Loyalists in Canada · Reputable sourcethecanadianencyclopedia.ca · The domain "thecanadianencyclopedia.ca" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Canadian War Museum. United Empire Loyalists and First Peoples Allies · Primary source (author-declared)warmuseum.ca · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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