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| Geography |  The Town of Gravelbourg is a small, yet vibrant, community of 1,211 residents located in South Central Saskatchewan. Dubbed the 'Cultural Gem of Saskatchewan', thanks to its remarkable bilingual heritage, regal architecture, and rich culture Gravelbourg is A Touch of Europe on the Prairies.
Located within a well-trafficked corridor in Southwestern Saskatchewan - Gravelbourg is located on Highway 43, just one hour away from Moose Jaw, Swift Current, and the United States border. As a path for First Nations peoples many years ago, this region was also integrated into the Redcoat Trail of the 19th Century. Gravelbourg is now a key link on the 21st Century TransCanada Trail.
| | History | Founded as an outpost of French Canada by a priest from Quebec via New York City, settled in part by Franco-Americans, endowed in the earliest beginnings with institutions whose architecture strove form the grand scale, there is even today something uncommon about Gravelbourg. Certainly it cuts an uncommon outline on the prairie horizon where earth and sky unite, dissolve, and disappears into infinity, as they do nowhere else in the world.
The community was founded in 1906 with the arrival of the Gravel family, and over the next few decades, Gravelbourg grew to become an important spiritual and educational centre in Western Canada.
Gravelbourg has a legacy as an educational community going back to 1918 with the birth of College Mathieu and the Convent of Jesus and Mary where religious orders began their education of the community's young people. College Mathieu remains in operation today as Western Canada's only residential French language institution.
The rich soil of South Central Saskatchewan spawned a bountiful agricultural sector for this community. In 1928, the Rural Municipality (RM) of Gravelbourg is on record as the most populous RM in Saskatchewan. Prior to the Depression, Gravelbourg had as many as nine grain elevators, attesting to the degree of prosperity in the community.
| | Economic Information | Today's Gravelbourg remains a focal point for the surrounding prairie farming community. The Town is an important regional service centre, with an integrated business sector including two newspapers, community radio, and over 100 businesses spanning the retail, manufacturing, and service sectors.
Value-added agricultural and small manufacturing operations are a mainstay of the community's commercial sector. Gravelbourg is proud to be home to Trailtech, Saskatchewan's leading manufacturer of light commercial trailers, which employs 120 individuals and a recent ABEX Award winner.
The community retains a health, education, and spirituality orientation with a regional hospital, three physicians, a dentist, and several complementary health practitioners. The community is currently working on implementing several residential health centres including a chronic pain and addictions centre.
Gravelbourg is well known for the historic College Mathieu, which offers residential French education from grades 8 through 12, as well as providing secondary public educational services to adults through the community college on site.
| | Attractions |  Today, the founding legacy of the Roman Catholic Church is still evident in the Town's most notable landmark, the Gravelbourg Religious Complex. This includes the former Convent of Jesus and Mary, the Bishop's Residence, and the architecturally outstanding Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. The Gravelbourg Religious Complex was declared a National Historic Site in 1995 and guided tours are available free of charge June through August.
Visitors to the community can stroll down Main Street and visit the growing array of specialty shops that boast locally crafted as well as international gift items. Purchase a cappuccino at an outdoor café or drop into the Gravelbourg & District Museum - an institution that highlights the pivotal role of education, spirituality, and health as 'building blocks' of communities.
A self-guided Walking Tour Booklet to 24 local sites is available for purchase at the Tourism Centre, Town Office, and local businesses.
Major special events are held annually:
The Southern Saskatchewan Summer Solstice Festival is held at solstice every June - offering three days of musical, dramatic, and artistic presentations.
| | Other Info | Culture, heritage, and spiritually blend in Gravelbourg with a very definite 'sense of place' evident in this community. Heritage homes and buildings dominate the landscape and an active Francophone base ensures diversified cultural activities. The recently restored Renaissance Gaiety Theatre screens movies and hosts visiting drama and musical productions.
Numerous recreational opportunities abound within the community with a semi-Olympic indoor swimming pool open six months of the year, ball diamonds, curling, ice-skating, and hockey accessible at the Palestre Arena. A five-pin bowling facility is available and the nine-hole Thomson Lake Golf Course is only 10 minutes away.
The Youth Centre was established in 1999 and is an active social and service minded organization for the community's young people.
Nearby regional parks, Thomson Lake and Shamrock Park, offer camping facilities plus swimming, golfing, and other recreational activities.
Gravelbourg's vision for the future is based on an informed perspective of its past. An environmentally sustainable community economic development model underlies all initiatives.
The community has developed a Climate Change Action Plan and a Sustainable Development Plan as well as an analysis of a District Energy System and a Wetland Sewage Treatment system. To offer a 'quality of life' equation for its residents, Gravelbourg is 'walking the talk' for environmental sustainability.
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