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An important part of the transformation of New France and particularly Quebec during the 1790s would be the arrival of large numbers of refugees from Metropolitan France. These newcomers were so numerous that by 1801, one in every three inhabitants of Quebec's 237,000 inhabitants had born in France. Though the royal family and the nobles were only a small portion of these immigrants, their imprint on the city was far more significant than their numbers. They brought with them new fashions and habits, and along with the artisans they patronised transformed the character of the city from a mediaeval provincial town to a great capital city.

Many of the nobles particularly those of the lower nobility arrived in New France with very little in terms of possessions, while others sold jewels and family art work in London before making their voyage to Quebec. Using the skills they possessed, noble women supported themselves by making lace, embroidering muslin dresses or making straw hats. Some nobles with more success established interior decorating firms or boutiques aimed at not only the local market. An increasing number of British visitors from the south for whom French styles of dress and decor remained the epitome of fashion began buying these goods, with many being sold in Boston, New York or Charleston. Other émigrés turned to teaching, this was particularly true of clergy members whom established several new schools aimed at the upper classes of the colony.

After their arrival in New France, many nobles were granted seigneuries as New France was still possessed ample tracts of unsettled land. Among them would be the forested land along the Rivière des Outaouais (Ottawa River) where the demand for lumber by the ship-building industry made many of the seigneuries profitable. Some nobles were fortunate enough to own sugar or coffee plantations in the Caribbean Islands and these nobles were able to use this revenue to establish a comfortable exile in Quebec and often in New Orleans. There were also a small number nobles whom had hosted members of the seingeurial elite visiting from France and whose hospitality was returned, becoming long-term visitors in many country estates. For the seigneurial and merchant elite of New France the arrival of the nobility presented an opportunity to gain status for their own families. The marriage of daughters of New France's seigneurial and merchant elite to titled but impoverished nobles became increasingly common. Often bringing with them large dowries, sometimes consisting of in land, these marriages were seen as mutually beneficial. Others still used their generosity towards the nobility, clergy members and the crown as an attempt to gain titles and honours for themselves.

The noble émigrés of course were joined by a much larger number of non-nobles, particularly merchants and craftsmen associated with the royal court or whose commerce depended on the colonies. Men like Jean-Henri Riesener, the Queen's favourite ébéniste was able to establish a successful cabinet-making warehouse in lower city of Quebec, exporting many of his pieces to the court of Europe. Robert-Joseph Auguste, the official silversmith to the crown, also established a shop in Quebec's Petit Champlain, carried on after his death by his son. The Augustes received commissions from various families in New France and Europe. Various coach-builders were also active during this period, many creating the gilt carriages and sleighs now housed in the Musee des Carrosses in Quebec.

The establishment of the royal court at the Château Saint-Louis located on the Upper Town of Quebec was followed by a large number of nobles acquiring or building their own homes near the now royal palace. The centre of power remained the upper town where the king and the clergy lived, while the lower town was populated mostly by the merchants and artisans. In their early years of arrival at court, Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette seemed like many of the other nobles to plan to only spend a short time in America. However, as the months turned into years, they began to plan to remain in the colony indefinitely. This was highlighted by the growing number of construction projects undertaken towards the close of the 18th century.

Upon arrival the king wanted to shape the perception of himself and his family, making overtures to appear pious and as a family man. He made it a point to dine daily with his brothers and their respective families, attend mass regularly and to take rides in the city with the queen. The goal was also to present a united front as a family, with the king as the father figure to his subjects. This did not mean however that the extravagance of the court was diminished. Within a few short years the old court of France had been recreated in Quebec. The growing economy of New France was indeed better suited to fund the lavishness of lifestyle of the royal family than France had been. As a result, the king could pay pensions and salaries to nearly 5,000 people associated with the court by 1803, with a sum of 6 million livres. The apparatus of the court planning of court remained intact and ceremonies under the direction of the First Gentlemen of the Bedchamber took on renewed importance. The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi within the Household of the King controlled ceremonies, which grew increasingly ostentatious, making Quebec a rival its contemporaries in Europe.

A sense of permanence about king's residence grew with time. This was reinforced by the deaths of Marie Thérèse of Savoy, Comtesse d'Artois in 1805, and that Marie Joséphine of Savoy the Comtesse de Provence in 1810. As a result of what seemed like a growing futility in regaining France, the king himself became more focused on shoring up his power base in what remained of his empire, while reconquering France seemed like be less of a possibility. That being said, the king and the queen quickly became accustomed to life in Quebec. After his arrival, the king commissioned the expansion of the Château Saint-Louis, by building a new wing in the Neo-Classical style to accommodate his court. The already sumptuous viceregal residence gained a new lustre when furnishings and art from Versailles, Compiègne and the Tuileries palaces adorned the various rooms of the sprawling chateau. It would be at the chateau where the majority of royal ceremonies would take place. One of the most politically significant would occur on 14 May 1797. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the third son of George III of Britain and Ireland paid an official visit to Louis XVI signing a treaty of friendship and alliance between his Most Christian Majesty and his Britannic Majesty. The Prince remained in Quebec for three weeks, and was feted with an dazzling spectacle of banquets, balls and concerts, meant to be a display the power of the French monarchy. The king also made a show of parading various regiments-in-exile, such as that of Flanders, Burgundy, and the Irish Guards.

When not in the city, the king and his family sought the refuge of the country, increasingly spent time at the Château Sainte-Foy, a country estate east of the city given to them by Louis-Auguste de Sillery, for whom his generosity was compensated with the title of Marquis de Sillery. The stone country house was small, but soon became a favourite of Louis XVI and the Dauphin whom enjoyed this new domain for hunting. Additionally, Louis XVI also built a forge and workshop there. Not content with the small country house, in 1797 the Queen commissioned the construction of a larger palace in the Neo-Palladian style. The palace was criticised in France for having a plaster facade painted "Maria Theresa Yellow" just like imperial palaces of Austria. The queen however, remained undaunted and the palace was completed in 1802, its interiors were filled with furnishings, tapestries and works of art, many of which had been transshipped from France. The gardens, like those of the Trianon before it were in the English style, dotted with picturesque pieces of classical-revival architecture, including various temples, bridges and ruins.

The arrival of the royal family also hallmarked an era of increased cultural significance for Quebec. The revolution had left most of the important royal academies of which the king was patron closed. As a result, he reestablished many in the city, with a focus on the arts and sciences. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture formally reestablished in 1795 in Quebec and in 1799 moved into a new building the the Royal Gallery, a museum designed to house many of the works of art taken from the Louvre. This gallery was the first to be opened to the the public with some 438 paintings and another 124 objets d'art. Among the invaluable paintings displayed were Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael Titian, Veronese, Rembrandt, Poussin and Van Dyck. The Royal Gallery was part of a larger complex also housing the Académie française as it too was reestablished under royal patronage in Quebec. The Royal Academy of Architecture was also important in providing the city with new builders. The Royal Music and Royal Dance Academies too was established in Quebec, using the Saint-Luc Theatre, where operas and ballets were performed, however this was superseded by the construction of an Opera House, inaugurated in 1795. Opera was not limited to Quebec, however as New Orleans boasted an opera house in 1791. The queen also had a theatre built at her palace at Sainte-Foy, often performing in her own plays, much as she had done at Versailles.

The king was also instrumental in establishing new schools to form military cadets such as the Royal Artillery School and the Royal Naval Academy in New France. Schools established during this period were not limited to those under royal patronage, however. Boarding Schools proliferated during this period, catering to the upper classes and became a means to provide a livelihood for many of the exiled members of the clergy. Some schools also became a way in which the wealthy bourgeoisie could mingle with the nobility. The Collège Royal became among the most prestigious, promoting the learning of Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mathematics. In 1808, the University of Quebec was established, and within the following two decades, this would be followed by universities in Montreal, Detroit, Saint-Louis, New Orleans and Port-Royal.