General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20266 min read

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is one of Canada's three federal territories, located north of the 60th parallel between Yukon and Nunavut, with its capital at Yellowknife. It was created on July 15, 1870, when Britain transferred the North-Western Territory to Canada and the Hudson's Bay Company sold Rupert's Land to the new dominion, and the combined area was renamed the Northwest Territories.¹ It is the most populous of the three northern territories and the second largest by area.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Created	July 15, 1870, from the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land¹
Area	1,346,106 km², 13.5% of Canada's landmass; second largest of the three territories³
Population	45,904 (2026 third-quarter estimate), living in 33 communities⁴^•³
Capital	Yellowknife, with roughly half the territorial population²
Official languages	11, comprising English, French, and nine Indigenous languages⁵
Legal basis	Powers flow from federal legislation (the Northwest Territories Act), not from the Constitution Act, 1867⁶
Land and resources	Devolved from the federal government to the Government of the Northwest Territories in 2014; offshore resources remained federal⁷

History and changing boundaries

The territory entered Confederation in 1870 covering a vast area: what are now the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and parts of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. The Arctic Islands were added in 1880, when Britain transferred them to Canada.⁸^•¹

Shrinking borders. The territory's boundaries changed repeatedly as new provinces and territories were carved out. Manitoba was created from the area in 1870 and enlarged in 1881; the districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabaska were formed within the Territories in 1882; and in 1895 the districts of Ungava, Franklin, Mackenzie, and Yukon were created. In 1898 Yukon became a separate territory, and in 1905 the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created out of the four southern districts, after which the spelling of the name changed from "North-West Territories" to "Northwest Territories" with the 1906 Northwest Territories Act. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec were enlarged at the territory's expense in 1912.⁹^•¹⁰^•¹

Even after these losses the Northwest Territories remained Canada's largest political subdivision, covering just over a third of the country's total area, until April 1999, when it was divided to create Nunavut in the Eastern Arctic and 60 percent of the land was transferred to the new territory.¹

Constitutional status and government

The constitutional difference between a province and a territory is fundamental. Provinces derive their jurisdiction from the Constitution Act, 1867 and hold exclusive legislative powers within their sphere; the territories have no entrenched constitutional status and exercise powers under federal legislation, namely the Northwest Territories Act, the Yukon Act, and the Nunavut Act. A change to the division of powers affecting a territory can be made by the Parliament of Canada, whereas a comparable change for a province requires constitutional amendment.⁶^•¹¹ In practice, the territorial assemblies now hold extensive self-government powers, mostly equivalent to the provinces' legislative powers, including jurisdiction over property and civil rights, and they are not acting as agents or delegates of the federal Parliament when legislating within their sphere.⁶

Consensus government. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut use a non-partisan consensus system rather than party politics. Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected as independents and choose the Premier and Cabinet from among themselves, a structure the Assembly describes as the main practical difference from provincial governments.¹¹ Unlike a province's Lieutenant Governor, who represents the King, the territory's Commissioner represents the federal Government of Canada.¹² Should the territory wish to pursue provincial status, amending the Constitution of Canada would be necessary.¹¹

Devolution. Responsibilities once held by the federal government, including health care, education, housing, and social services, have been transferred to the territory over time through negotiated agreements.¹³ Under the 2014 Devolution Agreement, the Government of the Northwest Territories became responsible for managing public land, water, and onshore resources, while the federal government retained offshore resources. The agreement also established the Intergovernmental Council, which brings the territorial government and participating Indigenous governments together on land and resource management, and an accompanying legislative development protocol was applied to the Forest Act, Protected Areas Act, Mineral Resources Act, and Public Land Act.⁷^•¹⁴

Geography and population

The territory stretches from boreal forest in the south to the Arctic Ocean in the north, and its 45,000 or so residents live in 33 communities.¹⁵ Eighteen of those communities are not connected by year-round road, relying on air or marine service and, for eleven of them, winter roads.³ More than half the population is Indigenous: Dene, Inuit (Inuvialuit), and Métis.² Nine Indigenous languages join English and French as the territory's 11 official languages.⁵

Population has recently declined slightly: the territory lost 127 people in the year to July 1, 2026, after adding 757 the year before, and the third-quarter 2026 estimate stood at 45,904.¹⁶^•⁴

Economy and recent pressures

The economy is a mixed one of resource development, tourism, government services, and traditional harvesting.⁵ Mining dominates the outlook: territorial revenues are set to decrease as diamond mines wind down.³ The territory is home to Canada's first diamond mine, a fact recognized when the diamond was adopted as its official gemstone in 1999.¹

Wildfires. In August 2023, wildfires forced the evacuation of Yellowknife, with more than 19,000 people leaving the city in under 48 hours, about 15,000 by car and 3,800 by air; across the territory, 268 wildfires had burned more than 21,000 square kilometers that season, and the small community of Enterprise was largely destroyed.¹⁷^•¹⁸ The territorial government has since released after-action reviews for the 2022 flood and 2023 wildfire seasons and enhanced its emergency management system with a surge capacity protocol, a four-year training plan, and regional emergency management coordinators.¹⁹

Northern sovereignty and infrastructure. In March 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in Yellowknife an additional C$32 billion for military forward operating locations and infrastructure in the North, including C$2.7 billion for four remote operating hubs and funding for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which will connect Yellowknife and Inuvik.²⁰ The territorial government has pursued these priorities through annual missions to Ottawa by its Council of Leaders and through national tables such as the Council of the Federation and the Western and Northern Premiers' meetings.²¹

Symbols

The coat of arms, granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956, shows the polar ice pack crossed by the Northwest Passage above a treeline dividing forest from tundra, with narwhals and a compass rose in the crest. The flag, adopted in 1969 from a nationwide design competition won by Robert Bessant of Margaret, Manitoba, places the shield on a white center panel between blue panels representing the territory's waters. Other symbols include the gyrfalcon (official bird, 1990), the Arctic grayling (official fish, 1999), the tamarack larch (official tree, 1999), and gold as the mineral emblem since 1981.¹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Administrative and cadastral territories › First-order subdivisions › Provinces of the Americas › Titles M to Z

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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