Sitting at the crossroads of Highway 21 and Highway 53 in central Alberta, Bashaw is a small town whose roots stretch back to the early twentieth century. A post office was established there in 1910, marking one of the earliest signs of organized settlement in the area. The town takes its name from Eugene Bashaw, who was among the original owners of the town site – a naming tradition that ties the community directly to its founding era.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bashaw had a population of 848 residents living in 381 of its 415 private dwellings. That figure represented a modest increase of 2.2% compared to the 2016 count of 830 people. The town covers a land area of 2.72 square kilometres, giving it a population density of approximately 311.8 people per square kilometre. Bashaw has produced a number of notable individuals over the years, including Luke Orton Lindoe (1913-2000), a versatile artist recognised for his work as a painter, sculptor, potter, and ceramic artist, and Darren Throop, who went on to found the media company Entertainment One.