We compare the mortality experience of British Columbia to that of Quebec. We find that most of the differences are in excess mortality in institutions (long-term-care centres and nursing homes) and that travel restrictions, differences in the way deaths are recorded, differences in the seasonality of influenza or differences in the way the pandemic spreads among different economic segments of the population cannot explain these differences. The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 is higher than the excess mortality in Quebec, by around 30%, due to the drop in mortality from other causes of death.