Lorette is a

local urban district A local urban district is a type of unincorporated community within the Canadian province of Manitoba. According to ''The Municipal Act'', a local urban district is a locality wholly within a rural municipality that "has at least 250 residents and ...

in the

Rural Municipality of Taché Taché (french: Municipalité rurale de Taché) is a rural municipality in Manitoba, Canada, incorporated in 1880. Named after the Bishop Taché (one of the first bishops in Manitoba), it is located to the south-east of Winnipeg, stretching from ...

, located 25 km southeast of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. The French-speaking

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

traders and farmers who first settled the area named it Petite Pointe du Chênes. Bishop

Alexandre-Antonin Taché Alexandre-Antonin Taché, O.M.I., (23 July 1823 – 22 June 1894) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, missionary of the Oblate order, author, and the first Archbishop of Saint Boniface in Manitoba, Canada. Early life Alexandre-Antonin ...

later changed the name to ''Lorette'', honoring a French priest who donated a significant sum to the construction of the

Saint Boniface Cathedral Saint Boniface Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Boniface) is a Roman Catholic cathedral of Saint Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is an important building in Winnipeg, and is the principal church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sai ...

in Winnipeg.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Lorette had a population of 3,512 living in 1,259 of its 1,295 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,208. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation

Lorette is located on Provincial Road 207, which is part of the historic

Old Dawson Trail The colonization roads were created during the 1840s and 1850s to open up or provide access to areas in Central and Eastern Ontario for settlement and agricultural development. The colonization roads were used by settlers to lead them toward are ...

. PR 207 can be accessed via the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

from the north, PR 206 from the east or PR 405 from the south.

Education

There are three elementary schools in Lorette. École Lagimodière, a French school; Dawson Trail School, an English school; and École Lorette Immersion, a French immersion school. Collège Lorette Collegiate is the community's only high school, offering English and French immersion programs. French grade 9-12 students travel to the nearby community of Ile-des-Chênes at École/Collège régional Gabrielle-Roy. There is a community library located in the Collège Lorette Collegiate.

Industry

The major employers in the community are the Municipality of Taché, the Seine River School Division, Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine and All Star Concrete.

Notre-Dame de Lorette

Notre-Dame de Lorette, located on Dawson Road, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church offering services in French and English. Notre-Dame de Lorette was built at a cost of $20,000 and completed in 1900. The architect and builder was Auguste Gauthier of Lorette. The task required a great deal of volunteer labour supplied by the community. The inside of the church features walls and ceilings adorned with oil murals by artist L.E. Monty of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. The church is surmounted by three bells, which were poured in

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Sports

The Complexe Communautaire de Lorette Community Complex (CCLCC) features a hockey rink, three-sheet curling rink, meeting rooms and a large hall. The Lorette Golf Course offers a nine-hole course along the Seine River. The Lorette Scorpions were the 2011-2012 WHSHL champions.

Mascot

In late 2017, bison located adjacent to Provincial Highway 405 (south of Lorette) had, repeatedly, found their way past their electrified fencing and onto the highway. Through social media, the bison, officially unofficially named Frederick "Freddy" The Bison, quickly became the LUD's adopted mascot by many of the residents. Moving past social media, the story was reported by the CBC. In addition to the Freddy's quick popularity with the residents as a mascot, he has also amassed a non-profit merchandising campaign in support of the CCLCC's new Complex. This has included custom birthday cards from the local flower shop to "Run Freddy Run" hoodies from the local designer. Many Canadians believe Freddy should be replaced with a chicken.

References

Sources

* Historical Atlas of Manitoba: A Selection of Facsimile Maps, Plans, and Sketches from 1612 to 1969, by John Warkentin and Richard I. Ruggles * Barkwell, Lawrence J. (2018) Historic Metis settlements in Manitoba and geographical place names. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Louis Riel Institute, 2018.

External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=May 2012 Designated places in Manitoba Local urban districts in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Eastman Region, Manitoba Manitoba communities with majority francophone populations