The RM was incorporated on January 1, 2015, via the amalgamation of the RM of Gilbert Plains and the Town of Gilbert Plains.[1] It was formed as a requirement of The Municipal Amalgamations Act, which required that municipalities with a population less than 1,000 amalgamate with one or more neighbouring municipalities by 2015.[2] The Government of Manitoba initiated these amalgamations in order for municipalities to meet the 1997 minimum population requirement of 1,000 to incorporate a municipality.[3]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gilbert Plains had a population of 1,420 living in 634 of its 741 total private dwellings, a change of -3.4% from its 2016 population of 1,470. With a land area of 1,050.15km2 (405.47sqmi), it had a population density of 1.4/km2 (3.5/sqmi) in 2021.[4]