This period in Quebec history is often referred to as the "great migration". Between 1860 and 1900 more than 500,000 French Canadians left the province of Quebec and emigrated, for the most part, to the United States. In one decade alone, between 1880 and 1890, over 150, 000 left. Why ?
 

EMIGRATION FROM QUEBEC TO THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1840 AND 1900 PERIOD  NUMBER OF  EMIGRANTS  PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION 1840-1850  35,000 5.4  1850-1860  70,000 7.8  1860-1870  100,000   9.0  1870-1880  120,000  10.1  1880-1890  150,000 11.3  1890-1900   140,000   9.6

the lack of arable land and an overpopulated countryside the lack of jobs in the city mechanized agriculture which reduced the need for agricultural manpower to find work in the textile mills of New England

To stop the exodus of French Canadians both the Catholic Church and the Quebec government

• promoted the colonization of the unsettled areas of Quebec such as the Laurentians, Saguenay-Lac St.-Jean, Gaspésie, and the Mauricie.

• The government of Quebec also began to subsidize the construction of railroads to these outlying regions in order to facilitate access to them.