Ponteix (, ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in southwestern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, southeast of

Swift Current Swift Current is the sixth-largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Trans-Canada Highway west of Moose Jaw, and east of Medicine Hat, Alberta. As of 2024, Swift Current has an estimated population of ...

. It is on Highway 628, just north of

Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * AH13, Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highwa ...

History

In 1908, Father Albert-Marie Royer from the Auvergne region in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

established a parish and hamlet called Notre-Dame d’Auvergne north of Notukeu Creek. Five years later, the townsite was moved south of the creek when the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

laid track there. After the move, the community was renamed Ponteix after Father Royer's former parish in France (Le Ponteix, commune of Aydat).

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 Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Ponteix had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Climate

According to the 2011 federal census, 175 of Ponteix's residents spoke both official languages (English and French).

Notukeu Regional Park

Notukeu Regional Park () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

along the banks of Notukeu Creek and adjacent to Ponteix. The park has a campground, golf course, spray park, and swimming pool. It is a small park that was founded in 1964. The campground has 30 serviced campsites plus a tenting area. The Ponteix Golf Club has grass greens and is a 9-hole, par 33 course that totals 2,485 yards. There is a licensed clubhouse and

pro shop A pro shop is a sporting-goods retail outlet found at a sports facility, most commonly a golf course, where it is typically located in the country club building. Pro shops can also be found at bowling alleys, pool and snooker halls, tennis and ...

Attractions

* Plesiosaur Statue: Near Ponteix was the site of a

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

find in the early 1990s. In 1995 community members and students of Ponteix school contributed small articles to this plesiosaur statue before it was filled with cement and painted by the townspeople in a ceremony commemorating the discovery of the original plesiosaur's bones. * Notukeu Heritage Museum in Ponteix features prehistoric artifacts. * Notre Dame D'Auvergne Catholic Church, a brick and concrete structure in Ponteix built in 1929, features twin steeples and houses a large wood carving of the Pieta. The Pieta statue came to Canada in 1909 and was saved when the 1916 church was destroyed by fire in 1923. A description of the oak statue in 1954 by Abbot Jerome Webber of St. Peter's Abbey claims it was made in France over four hundred years ago, was saved by peasants during the French Revolution and was once covered in pure gold.

Notable residents

Mark Lamb Mark William Lamb (born August 3, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, and current general manager and head coach of the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Lamb was previously the head coach of the Tu ...

— former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

ice hockey player

References

{{Authority control Towns in Saskatchewan Division No. 3, Saskatchewan