Ste. Agathe is a primarily

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

community in the

Rural Municipality of Ritchot The Rural Municipality of Ritchot () is a rural municipality (RM) in the Winnipeg Capital Region, bordering the south side of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The separately-administered town of Niverville lies adjacent to its southeast, betwee ...

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, located along the Red River. Ste. Agathe is in the provincial riding of

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, Man ...

and the federal riding of

Provencher Provencher is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1871. It is a largely rural constituency in the province's southeast corner. Its largest community is the city of ...

History

The village was founded in the mid-19th century on one of the

Red River Trails The Red River Trails were a network of Red River ox cart, ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the "Selkirk Settlement") and Fort Garry in Canada under British Imperial control (1764-1867), British North America with the head of naviga ...

by settlers from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

named Grouette, who built a homestead on the west bank of the Red River and farmed grain in the rich soil of the valley. A dock allowed other settlers to reach the east side of the river via ferry with their grain-laden Red River carts; a community, originally called Pointe-à-Grouette, formed around the docking point at some time before 1871. The first mention of the name "Ste. Agathe" was some decades earlier, when the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

organized the Red River colonies between St. Norbert and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

border into the Parish of Sainte-Agathe. As that

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

grew and split into numerous more manageable parishes, the parish containing Pointe-à-Grouette was renamed the ''Parish of Sainte-Agathe'' by Archbishop

Alexandre-Antonin Taché Alexandre-Antonin Taché (; 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 Taché ...

in 1873; the town adopted the name at some time after that date. A church, a school, and eventually a convent were built at the townsite.

1997 flood

It is located in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

of the Red River and, as such, has always been prone to flood damage, but none was so severe or as notable as that experienced during the

1997 Red River flood The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached through ...

. The ring dike surrounding the town gave out in late April, causing the town to be inundated with over two metres of water. The village has recovered; a new dike has been built and an

interpretive centre An interpretation centre, interpretive centre, or visitor interpretive centre is an institution for dissemination of knowledge of natural or cultural heritage. Interpretation centres are a kind of new-style museum, often associated with visitor c ...

has been created on the west side of the community.Red River Valley Floods Interpretive Centre
. Accessed August 12, 2008.

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 ...

, Ste. Agathe had a population of 643 living in 225 of its 226 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 637. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

External links

Ste Agathe official community website
{{MBDivision2 Sainte Agathe Unincorporated communities in Eastman Region, Manitoba Manitoba communities with majority francophone populations