Grouard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Grouard
Grouard Mission
|
|
|---|---|
 Grouard
Location in Alberta
Grouard
Location in Canada
|
|
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Alberta |
| Region | Northern Alberta |
| Census division | 17 |
| Municipal district | Big Lakes County |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unincorporated |
| Area
(2021)
|
|
| • Land | 4.52 km2 (1.75 sq mi) |
| Population
(2021)
|
|
| • Total | 166 |
| • Density | 36.7/km2 (95/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| Area code(s) | 780, 587, 825 |
Grouard, also known as Grouard Mission, is a hamlet in northern Alberta within Big Lakes County. It was previously an incorporated municipality between 1909 and 1944.
Grouard is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Highway 2, approximately 171 kilometres (106 mi) northeast of Grande Prairie. It is the administrative office of the Kapawe'no First Nations.
History
Grouard, named after Bishop Émile Grouard, was originally incorporated as a village on September 27, 1909 and then as a town in December, 1912. In 1913, the community had a population of more than 1,000, but was largely abandoned once the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway (EDBCR) was built 12 miles (19 km) south of Grouard. Many of the residents and businesses moved to High Prairie, a community on the railway line.
Grouard reverted from town status to village status on June 7, 1940, and then dissolved from village status on January 15, 1944 to become part of Improvement District No. 764.
Difficult pastoral conditions in Grouard occasioned canonical permission for Catholic priests to be allowed to celebrate Mass four times per day on Sundays and certain holy days (contrary to the provisions of then-applicable 1917 CIC 806) being sought. This highly unusual permission was granted by Pope Paul VI for a five-year period beginning in 1967. See Canon Law Digest VI: 550.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Grouard recorded a population of 166 living in 79 of its 117 total private dwellings, a change of -34.9% from its 2016 population of 255. With a land area of 4.52 km2 (1.75 sq mi), it had a population density of 36.7/km2 (95/sq mi) in 2021.
As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Grouard Mission recorded a population of 255 living in 85 of its 110 total private dwellings, a change of -15.8% from its 2011 population of 303. With a land area of 4.56 km2 (1.76 sq mi), it had a population density of 55.9/km2 (145/sq mi) in 2016.
Education
Northland School Division No. 61 hosts grades K-9. Students who continue from grade 9 travel by bus to attend high school in High Prairie. Grouard students also have the option to attend school from K-12 in High Prairie.
Northern Lakes College (NLC)
Grourd and Slave Lake have administrative offices of the Northern Lakes College, a public, comprehensive, community college that is board-governed with over twenty-five campuses in communities across northern Alberta. NLC acknowledges that it is located on Treaty 8 territory and Metis nations regions and traditional First Nations and Metis land.
The Alberta Vocational College (AVC) was renamed the Northern Lakes College on August 25, 1999.
NLC history
In 1970 and 1971, the hamlet of Grouard which is adjacent to Treaty 8 Kapawe'no First Nation land, became the site of Vocational Centre—one of a group of sister Community Vocational Centres (CVC's). First Nations students received adult education basic training in Grouard at the Centre to prepare to become instructors in the area covered by the CVC's.
In 1986, major changed were taking place in the Alberta Vocational College (AVC) without consulting those affected, including moving dozens of married students living quarters, programs and materials to High Prairie from Grouard. Grouard residents held demonstrations in protest. The decision was overturned following a meeting which including MLAs and Alberta cabinet ministers. Harold Cardinal, leader of the Indian Association of Alberta for nine terms and former chief of Sucker Creek First Nation asked the Education Minister Dave Russell to not let education at AVC be downgraded and to not ignore the formal political structures First Nationa already had in place to deal with the issue. A working committee composed of First Nations members was created and it was agreed that the college programs would not be moved from Grouard to High Prairie without consultation.
In 1988, the Alberta Vocational Centre in Grouard amalgamated with a network of 26 community vocational centres for First Nations students in northern Alberta to form the Alberta Vocational College. As of September 1, 1997, the AVC has been governed by a public board. Prior to that it was administered by province of Alberta.
Northern Lakes College is one of ancillary spaces that is part of Kapawe'no First Nation School, which is located within the Kapawe'no First Nation. In 2019 the Kapawe’no First Nation School Authority and Kapawe'no First Nation School received authorization under Alberta's Department of Education. The school became fully operational soon after, and offers education from kindergarten through grade twelve.
The Native Cultural Arts Museum is a part of Northern Lakes College and is located in the Moosehorn Lodge at the Grouard campus. The Museum's collection celebrates various aspects of Indigenous cultures, with a special focus on Métis peoples and the Woodland Cree of northern Alberta.
Notable people
- Pearl Calahasen, Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister (1989-2015)
