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Life events, children, family, individuals, property, land, housing. Job postings, employment services and standards. Laws and legislation, legal system, police, emergency, victim services. Visiting the Northwest Territories, parks, tourism. Safety bulletins, information, support. The Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup discovered most of the remaining islands to the northwest at the turn of the 20th century, with Vilhjalmur Stefansson completing discoveries between and When the NWT was acquired by the Canadian government in , there was already a population of , Indigenous people living there.

The fur trade posts provided the only nuclei of non-Indigenous settlement in the NWT until relatively recently. Missions were established near the posts along the Mackenzie River in the latter part of the 19th century. See also Northwest Territories and Confederation. The federal presence was represented in these small settlements after the turn of the century by the RCMP, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals radio stations and by other agencies.

Strategic water transportation sites, such as Fort Smith and Tuktoyaktuk , provided other attractions for limited settlement.

Because of its easier accessibility and more varied resources, more incomers trickled into the Mackenzie Valley than the Arctic. In the federal government also signed its last numbered treaty, Treaty 11, with the Indigenous peoples north of Great Slave Lake. Treaty 11 was spurred by the enthusiasm caused by the discovery of oil at Fort Norman in The government sent a treaty commission to the Lower Mackenzie River valley to open the territory for easier, further resource exploration.

As with the other numbered treaties, Treaty 11 guaranteed certain rights, such as Indigenous hunting and trapping rights, yet the federal government often ignored these rights and interpreted them as being subject to government regulation.

Beginning in the s mineral exploration aided by bush pilots and their improved aircraft, along with more European hunters, resulted in a significant influx of newcomers, even into the Arctic mainland. The interwar years saw the rise of disease and the decline of traditional ways of life among the Indigenous populations as the new mining industry brought settlers to the region.

The availability of hunting game was disrupted, coinciding with a decline in federal funding to the NWT during the Great Depression. In recent decades major change and development in the NWT have resulted from international and national political events, widespread social change, large-scale resource demands and the availability of improved technology. As early as the Second World War , the impact of international hostilities was felt in Mackenzie Valley settlements through the Canol Pipeline and in the southern part of the Eastern Arctic through the North East Staging Route airports.

Inuit communities began living around military stations for security and access to resources. The conditions were miserable.

This process significantly disrupted kinship bonds and furthered the decline of traditional game hunting. In some cases, the Inuit who were chosen to be relocated were deceived by the government with regard to families being kept intact and where they were going to be resettled.

In recent years, the Inuit in this area have begun to demand recognition of their unique role in the protection of Canadian sovereignty. In , the federal government assumed increased responsibility for the territory with the creation of the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. Major improvements were made in health services, housing, education facilities and communications to bring them more in line with those of southern Canada. More recently much of this responsibility has been delegated to the territorial government.

Government services are now more numerous throughout northern settlements and occasionally provide the greatest source of local employment. As a result, most northern residents now live in permanent settlements for most of the year. The demand for minerals and fuels, along with improvements in mining and transportation technology, has made northern resources economically attractive and resource development provides employment. Primary resource extraction is the foundation of the NWT economy.

Furs, the original base, are now of much less importance. Commercial whaling disappeared early in the 20th century. From the s, minerals have become the most important economic base for the NWT, with all other economic activities except the service industry far behind. Agriculture is of negligible significance in the NWT.

In the years after the First World War, there were small attempts at agriculture such as mission and hospital gardens as well as teaching Indigenous children farming techniques believed to be superior to their traditional way of life. These efforts, combined with the desire to provide land for returning soldiers, all encouraged the Canadian government to expand further north. Though brief these efforts did have long-term effects on the northern environment through the clearing of land and introduction of new grasses and plants.

Ultimately, however, small markets, summer drought and limited good soils create serious obstacles to agriculture in the NWT. Improved transportation often makes it cheaper to bring in agricultural products from the south. Today, only a few market gardens operate in the Hay River valley. Mining is an integral part of the NWT economy. Over the years, the focus of mining in the region has moved from base and precious metals such as uranium , gold , lead and zinc to primarily diamonds.

For example, diamonds at Lac de Gras, km north of Yellowknife, attracted much attention in the s. The discovery of the first Kimberlite pipe — a type of cone-shaped rock often containing diamonds — in resulted in one of the world's largest rushes into the area the following year.

There are four mines currently operating in the NWT, three of which produce diamonds and one that produces tungsten. Two of the diamond-producing mines opened during this year period, accounting in large part for the increase in production value. Mining employs about 3, people, or about 14 per cent of the work force of the territories, and provides significant employment in related service activities such as mining exploration. Heating is a major cost for northerners, given the long, severe winters and the transportation costs.

Energy needs for most settlements are provided by fuel oil and thermal power generation. In most of the territory hydro power is nonexistent. The potential hydropower resources of the NWT has been estimated at about 2, megawatts MW , most of which is within the Mackenzie Valley area.

The series of rapids on the Slave River near the Alberta boundary has attracted attention for possible hydroelectric power generation, but such a project would have serious repercussions for wildlife and wildlife habitat. There is an ongoing search for additional sources of oil and natural gas in the NWT. In the s, many expressed concern for environmental disruption caused by pipeline projects in the Mackenzie Valley and the Arctic.

Similarly, in , offshore exploration resumed following the lifting of a year right issuance moratorium, put in place pending the resolution of land claims. Land claims remain an important issue in the face of ongoing resource development. The greatest single natural resource of the region for Indigenous peoples has been the migratory barren land caribou , which swarmed in enormous herds to summer in this region.

In the 20th century, caribou numbers fluctuated dramatically because of changes in hunting pressure and wolf abundance. Declines had serious repercussions for local residents here, resulting in the movement of the Caribou Inuit of the Ennadai Lake area to communities on the west coast of Hudson Bay in Nunavut. By , caribou numbers were again large and most herds were increasing. Marine animals e. Polar bear skins and fox pelts still provide some income for the Inuit.

Many of the people living in smaller communities continue to earn at least part of their living by hunting, trapping and fishing. In , 39 per cent of people over the age of 15 hunted or fished in the NWT, including 45 per cent of the Indigenous population. Six per cent participated in trapping. Since the territorial government assists those wishing to make a living off the land through various harvest assistance programs. The commercial fishery operates primarily out of Great Slave Lake. Whitefish is the most important catch, though pickerel and lake trout are also harvested.

Tourism provides increasing economic benefits to the NWT, with visitors arriving by road via the Mackenzie Highway system and the Dempster Highway in the west. Fly-in sport fishing lodges and wilderness camps are served out of Yellowknife and Fort Smith among others.

Inuit prints and sculpture have established an international reputation and are a major source of employment. In , about nine per cent of the population over the age of 15 of the NWT produced arts and crafts, including large percentages of the population of the small Indigenous communities of Kakisa and Trout River about 40 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively.

Transportation in the NWT must cope with enormous distances, severe climatic conditions and the small, scattered population. It is remarkable that the NWT is so well-served, and the high costs can be appreciated.

Commercial water transportation still operates during the summer on the Mackenzie. A modern diesel tug and barge fleet is based at Hay River, with a secondary base at the mouth of the Mackenzie at Tuktoyaktuk , the only reliably sheltered harbour on the shallow western coast.

The coastal communities from Tuktoyaktuk eastwards as far as the Boothia Peninsula are served by tug and dual-purpose barge, though often the short ice-free season may restrict such service to a single call. Since the Second World War a limited road network has been extended northwards into the Mackenzie Valley.

Highways are mainly all-weather gravel roads and include several important river ferry links. This extension is the only road access to Wood Buffalo National Park. Inuvik and other Mackenzie Delta communities are now linked to Dawson, YT, by the Dempster Highway , making it almost possible to reach the shores of the Arctic Ocean by road. The Deh Cho Bridge, across the Mackenzie River near Fort Providence, opened on 30 November , and is designed to lower the reliance of the surrounding areas, especially the North Slave Region, on ferries.

The bridge will also hopefully allow for year-round commercial activities as opposed to the strictly seasonal trends of previous years. Winter roads exist seasonally over frozen lakes to many isolated communities and mines. Ice crossings have to be reconstructed annually and are only operational for about three to four months per year.

The railway also led to Hay River's development as the major river transportation centre because of its transhipment advantages, and displaced the earlier all-water Slave River route via Fort McMurray, AB. Aircraft often are the only practical method of transportation in the NWT, particularly in the Arctic. Airfields serve most NWT communities with populations over Regularly scheduled airline service is provided from southern Canadian cities into the larger communities as far north as Resolute.

From , when the areas which became Alberta and Saskatchewan were granted provincial status and subsequently ceded from the NWT, until after the Second World War, the government of the NWT was carried on by an appointed commissioner and council, composed entirely of senior civil servants based in Ottawa.

Beginning in , elected members were gradually added to the previously all-appointed council until it became a fully elected body in In the time leading up to this change, the commissioner was a deputy minister in the federal department in charge of the administration of the Yukon Territory and the NWT in addition to other major responsibilities.

In , the federal government created federal electoral constituencies in parts of the Northwest Territories. In the seat of territorial government was moved to Yellowknife and the commissioner relocated there with the nucleus of what has become a territorial public service.

Today, the federal Northwest Territories Act contains a written constitution and defines the powers of the territorial government. There are no political parties in the territory. The territorial assembly consists of 19 members, elected by people in the constituencies. Following an election, members choose from amongst themselves one person to serve as premier and another as speaker. The commissioner role is akin to that of a provincial lieutenant governor.

While the Legislative Assembly of the NWT acts, for the most part, as a provincial legislature would, it does not have the same level of control. Only federal government, for example, can amend the NWT Act. The NWT also relies heavily on federal transfers. For comparison, during the same year, federal transfers accounted for 34 per cent of PEI 's revenue, making it the province relying the most on the federal government, but still far less dependent than the territories.

The discussion around separating what is now Nunavut from the NWT began as early as the s, and stemmed from a desire on the part of the people of Nunavut — who are primarily Inuit — to have a territory and a government of their own.

Finally, in , the territorial government held a plebiscite and the majority voted in favour of dividing the NWT. Land claim and self-government agreements have always been major issues for the territorial government. The territorial judiciary comprises a Court of Appeal consisting of all the justices of appeal from Alberta, one from Saskatchewan and the four NWT Supreme Court justices. The Territorial Court has four resident judges three in Yellowknife, one in Hay River and one in Inuvik and 52justices of the peace living in communities throughout the territory.

Judges and justices of the peace are appointed by the commissioner on the advice of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee of the NWT. There are deputy judges of the Supreme Court who serve where and when needed. Court sessions are held in Yellowknife and on regular court circuits throughout the territories. Sibbeston, Liberal, appointed by Jean Chretien in For administrative purposes the NWT is divided into five regions.

Decentralization and devolution recently have increased the importance of these areas. In fact, an early demand for decentralization of government and the recognizing of local Indigenous identities in the s would pave the way for the eventual creation of Nunavut in Despite the success of some of these demands, the development of municipal government to provide local decision-making has been hampered by the small size of many of these communities, their remoteness and their limited local economic resources.

In addition, there are four towns, four community governments, three charter communities and 11 hamlets.