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There is still a good deal of bitterness in the Métis community over the history of the St-Paul-des-Métis settlement.

In the early days of the colony’s existence, some building materials were supplied by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and Father Thérien engaged in activities, such as breaking land, that were meant to prepare the mission’s Métis residents for an agrarian existence. By 1897, a school had been erected, and the town’s sawmill provided employment for many of the town’s Métis residents. 32 families called St-Paul-des-Métis home by 1898, and that number grew to over 80 families by 1904. Still, the colony was not as successful as the ambitious Oblates had hoped.

The "low number" of Métis families who had taken up residence in St-Paul-des-Métis was worrying to its parish priest and manager, Adeodat Thérien. In 1908, Thérien aggressively pushed the government to allow settlement by French-Canadians on the reserve, and a new era in the town’s history began when it was officially opened to outside immigrants in 1909.

Father Thérien, behind the backs of the Métis, began to advertise this land in Quebec, to attract French speaking settlers, and in 1909, the Oblate Fathers requested the federal government to cancel the lease, citing disinterest among the Métis as the cause for the "failure" of the settlement. French-Canadian homesteaders were being admitted to the settlement even before the official opening for homesteading on 10 April 1909.

Potential homesteaders lined up at the Dominion Government Land Office to stake their claim on surrounding land. The Métis who chose to remain received titles to the original 80-acre lots they had taken up upon arrival and could have an additional 80 acres.

In 1936, the town’s name was shortened to St. Paul, and residents saw the continued addition of modern amenities, such as banks and schools as well as services such as power and natural gas. In just three decades, St. Paul blossomed from a small utopian colony into an officially recognized town.

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