Somerset

Interested in living in a bilingual town on the edge of the Pembina Hills? Somerset offers you a unique experience with many activities for the family.

Endless fields

Located 130 km southwest of Winnipeg, Somerset gets its name from the English birthplace of many of its first settlers. Today, Somerset is recognized as a local urban district in the Municipality of Lorne.

Somerset is primarily a farming community. Endless fields of grain stretch out before you, sometimes separated by marshland. In 2004, a grain elevator in La Rivière was moved to Somerset. It was quite a feat to transport the 323-tonne machine, which is now fully operational. The construction industry is represented by the Boulet Brothers Concrete plant and head office.

Perched atop the Pembina Mountain, Somerset has a breathtaking view of the St. Leon wind farm and surrounding fields.

Culture and flowers

An interesting and little-known fact is that, as a teenager, acclaimed writer Gabrielle Roy often spent her summers in Somerset, on the farm of her mother Mélina’s brother. When she started teaching in Cardinal, she would return to Somerset by train on the weekends. The town decided to honour her memory by opening the Gabrielle Roy Museum, which features a collection of objects that once belonged to the Roy family as well as letters written by Gabrielle Roy herself. The museum is housed in the same building as the Somerset Library.

Whether it is home or a vacation destination, Somerset offers many activities, including camping, skating, curling, a water park, the Somerset Farmer’s Market selling fresh fruits and vegetables, specialty foods and crafts, and a rose garden. The Somerset Memorial rose garden, created in 2006, is located beside the Somerset Manor, at the town entrance. Several hundreds of fragrant flowers fill the garden – a scent-sational experience!

The town of Somerset is also part of the Trans Canada Trail spanning close to 24,000 km across Canada.

A peaceful haven

With its 437 residents, a third of whom are bilingual, the town of Somerset is a peaceful haven nestled in the rolling hills of the Pembina Valley. Residents have access to all essential services, including health services, sports and cultural activities for all ages, a French language day care, and the town school providing education in both official languages.

Somerset by the numbers

  • 437 residents (2016)
  • 300 speak English, while 130 speak French
  • Average age: 44.5 years

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