As was typically the case elsewhere along the Red River Valley, the area around St. Jean Baptiste was settled in the early 1870s by Métis families from St. Norbert.  At that time, it was called “Mission Rivière aux Prunes” because of the abundance of wild plums growing along the river banks.   When they were joined by twenty families from Quebec and the Eastern U.S., Bishop Taché decided to establish a new parish, naming it St. Jean Baptiste in honour of the patron saint of French-Canadians.

The land around St. Jean Baptiste is among the most fertile in the Red River Valley. A variety of seeds and speciality crops (including soups peas) are farmed in the region, and St. Jean Baptiste has the honour of being known as the “Pea Soup Capital” of Canada!

The Montcalm Theatre has been very active in the community for the past twenty years. Each year in March, the company presents a play that draws local audiences as well as those from Winnipeg and beyond.

St. Jean Baptiste is also home to the province’s oldest remaining rural convent, the former convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, established in 1897-1898.