ABSTRACT Following deglaciation, lowland sites in eastern Canada that were covered by proglacial Lake Ojibway recorded direct afforestation with boreal mixedwood taxa, without an initial tundra phase, contrary to sites that were never covered by this lake. Because former islands of proglacial Lake Ojibway were colonized by vegetation before lake drainage around 8200 cal a bp , we hypothesized that these paleo‐islands went through a non‐arboreal phase which eventually transitioned to boreal mixedwoods, hence providing a source of propagules for rapid and later colonization of the lowlands. We carried out a multi‐proxy analysis combining pollen, macro‐remains, sedimentary ancient DNA and charcoal to document vegetation composition and dynamics on two paleo‐islands. Both study sites recorded progressive vegetation establishment starting with a tundra‐like phase with only herbs and shrubs, followed by open forests dominated by either larch or pine, culminating with the establishment of the boreal mixedwoods about 300 years before the final drainage of proglacial Lake Ojibway. Fire regimes seem to have partially driven vegetation dynamics and diversity on the paleo‐islands. Paleo‐islands were sources of propagules, which helps explain how the former Lake Ojibway lowlands were directly colonized by boreal mixedwoods, without an initial tundra phase.