As of 2021, the population was 505 (a decrease of 6.5 percent from the 2016 census), in an area of 1.65 square kilometres (0.64 sq mi). Rouleau is on Highway 39 and is about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Regina.
The town was notably the filming location of the popular Canadian sitcomCorner Gas, depicting the fictitious town of Dog River.
History
Railway Avenue, 1911
A post office was established at Rouleau in the provisional District of Assiniboia, North West Territories, as early as April 1, 1895. It incorporated as a village on July 23, 1903.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Rouleau had a population of 505 living in 206 of its 221 total private dwellings, a change of -6.5% from its 2016 population of 540. With a land area of 1.54 km2 (0.59 sq mi), it had a population density of 327.9/km2 (849.3/sq mi) in 2021.[8]
The town is best known as the main filming location for the CTV television series Corner Gas. The series' production team built a full-size mock gas station and coffee shop at the western entrance of the town for filming, causing confusion among visitors thinking Corner Gas and The Ruby were real establishments. The town's grain elevator was also repainted with the name "Dog River" as it appears in the background of many episodes of the series.
For an episode which aired in early 2007, then-Prime MinisterStephen Harper stopped in Rouleau to play a cameo role in the television show.
The buildings used as sets for the program were allowed to fall into disrepair after the show wrapped up production.[11] They were purchased by an entrepreneur, Sylvain Senecal, who converted them into a museum and souvenir shop.[12] The set was demolished in November 2016.
On 28 September 2014, the building that was used as the FOO[D] MAR[KE]T, the local grocery store in the series, was destroyed in a fire.[13] The grain elevator was destroyed in a fire on November 5, 2021, about two weeks after the building used for depicting Dog River's police station collapsed.[14]
