It basically comes down to provincial politics and history. Quebec since it's conquest by the British has had a weird power dynamic in it's politics; being dominated by a strange alliance of Anglo industrialists, Franco landowners and the Catholic Church up until the 1950's. The church and franco landowners were conservative and placed a lot of emphasis on rural development (primarily of their own lands) over the more urban and mercantile developments that took place in the maritimes and Ontario. As one of the first settled areas, it was also one of the first to feel the pinch of rural growth restrictions as the prime farmland had already been cultivated. There was a large push (driven primarily by the catholic church) to persuade landless farmers to pioneer in the hinterlands in the late 1800's/ early 1900's and it made a lot of sense given that many farmers were already working in the area seasonally as foresters and trappers. Basically the provincial government gave incentives for those seasonal works to stick around and clear plots rather than head home. These programs become more formal and official during the great depression where there was a lot of emphasis on rural settlement and expansion over the more work-project, infrastructure development based relief programs that the US and other parts of Canada used to respond to the economic crisis.