St-Pierre-Jolys (formerly ''Rivière-aux-Rats''/Rat River, ''St-Pierre''/St. Pierre) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the Canadian province of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, located 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, ...

on Highway 59 near the Rat River. It is surrounded by the

Rural Municipality of De Salaberry De Salaberry (french: Municipalité rurale De Salaberry) is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in western Canada. The administratively separate village of St-Pierre-Jolys and St. Malo Provincial Park lie within the geographical bord ...

, and the nearest communities to it are Steinbach, St. Malo,

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

and Niverville. Agriculture is the dominant industry: primarily dairy farming and livestock. Being important sectors for the life of the community, the local businesses, services, and hospitality are strong. Tourism is also important to the village: the former Crow Wing Trail is now part of the

Trans-Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extend ...

, and St. Pierre-Jolys hosts several popular festivals, such as ''la Cabane à Sucre'' (maple syrup festival) in April; ''le Festival Chantecler'', a celebration of Francophone arts; and the signature St-Pierre-Jolys Frog Follies and Ag Fair (''les Folies Grenouilles et Foire Agricoles''), a village fair featuring the Canadian frog jumping competition. There are 3 schools, a hospital, and a sizable

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

detachment in the village. Bilingual St-Pierre-Jolys has collaborated with nearby St. Malo on several ventures, including a trade show and a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

league. The dramatic sequences for the 2012 documentary ''

We Were Children ''We Were Children'' is a 2012 Canadian documentary film about the experiences of First Nations children in the Canadian Indian residential school system. Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk and written by Jason Sherman, the film recounts the experiences ...

'' were shot there.

History

Part of the 19th-century Crow Wing Trail linking

Upper Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company' ...

with

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

(now MN), the area was initially settled by francophone people of Métis and Québécois heritage. English settlers later came as well, in smaller numbers. Father Noel-Joseph Ritchot and Mr. Joseph Dubuc both helped with St. Pierre's founding. The Brittany-born Father Jean-Marie Jolys started a parish and encouraged many Quebec families to move here. The name "Jolys" was added to "St. Pierre" around 1922 to recognize the 40 years of Father Jolys as parish priest of St. Pierre. The Roman Catholic faith has been inextricably linked to the settlement's growth. A former convent of the

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (Soeurs des Saints Noms de Jésus et de Marie) is a teaching religious institute founded at Longueuil, Québec, Canada, in 1843 by Blessed Mother Marie Rose Durocher for the Christian education of y ...

is now the village museum. Though the post office opened in 1879, St. Pierre-Jolys was only incorporated as a village in 1947. A unique part of the area's history was the establishment of a POW camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

6 miles south of St. Pierre in 1943, the camp held about 200 prisoners working on a sugar beet farm.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, St-Pierre-Jolys had a population of 1,305 living in 508 of its 518 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,170. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

* Rich Gosselin, hockey player * Mariette Mulaire, businesswoman

References

External links

* {{Authority control Saint Pierre Urban municipalities in Eastman Region, Manitoba Manitoba communities with majority francophone populations

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References

External links