The prefix "lower" in its name refers to its geographic position farther downriver from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River than its contemporary Upper Canada, present-day southern Ontario.

Twenty-two years after an invasion by the United States in the War of 1812, a rebellion now challenged the British rule of the predominantly French population.

Their separate legislatures were combined into a single parliament with equal representation for both constituent parts, even though Lower Canada had a greater population.

[12] The King's Highway was, in addition to the mail route, the primary means of long-distance passenger travel until steamboats (1815) and railways (1850s) began to challenge the royal road.

[12] The royal road's importance waned after the 1850s and would not re-emerge as a key means of transportation until the highway system of Quebec was created in the 20th century.