The town was originally named Lesser Slave Lake. The name was changed to Grouard on June 1, 1909.
The name was changed to Grouard Mission March 29, 1949.
The town was named after the Catholic Bishop Émile Grouard, who was a missionary in the north for sixty-nine years. He moved his headquarters to Grouard in 1920, and died there in 1931.
The Post Office opened on June 1, 1903.