Saint Alphonse, Manitoba
Saint Alphonse is a small English speaking Belgium community in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Saint Alphonse is part of the Municipality of Lorne.
The village of Saint Alphonse was founded in the early 1880s by immigrants mainly from Belgium and some from Quebec. Other Belgian immigrants settled further north and founded the village of Bruxelles.
The school of Saint Alphonse opened in 1883. It hosted Belgian children of which two thirds were Walloons and from Brussels and a third of Flemish origin. The common language of instruction for all students was only French. In 1959, the school of Saint Alphonse regrouped neighbouring French-speaking schools. Due to the depopulation of villages, St. Alphonsus school closed in 1996. The children were redirected to Anglophone schools in the nearby towns of Swan Lake and Bruxelles, Manitoba.
