 After the railway was built the name changed to Elma.Its name is said to have originated from a man named Thomas Koivu and his wife Maria, who worked for the CPR and had a baby who was named Elma (1905).And so, Elma became the name that the town all decided on, though it is more likely the name was given when the National Transcontinental Railway (a predecessor of the Canadian National Railway) was built through the area in 1905.