Demographics of the Northwest Territories

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The Northwest Territories is a territory of Canada. It has an area of 1,171,918 square kilometres and a population of 41,786 as of the 2016 Census.

Population history[edit]

Timeline of the divisions of Canada; size of the Northwest Territories changes throughout 1870 to 1999, introducing large instant changes in its population
Census
Year 		Population five-year
% change 		ten-year
% change 		Rank among
provinces and
territories 		Notes on changes impacting area
and attendant population,
and count provinces and territories
1871 48,000 n/a n/a 5
1881 56,446 n/a 17.6 7
1891 98,967 n/a 75.3 7
  • In 1886, NWT gained land back from District of Keewatin.
  • In 1891, Canada had 2 territories and 7 provinces
1901 184,430 n/a 86.4 6
  • In 1895, NWT ceded land to the expansion of District of Keewatin.
  • In 1898, NWT ceded land to the creation of Yukon Territory
    and the expansion of the province of Quebec.
  • In 1901, Canada had 3 territories and 7 provinces
1911 6,507 n/a -96.5 11
  • In 1905, NWT ceded land to the creation of the provinces of Alberta
    and Saskatchewan, while District of Keewatin rejoined NWT.
  • In 1906, North-West Territories renamed Northwest Territories (NT)[1]
  • In 1911, Canada had 2 territories and 9 provinces
1921 8,143 n/a 25.1 10
  • In 1912, NT ceded land to the expansion of the provinces of Manitoba,
    Ontario and Quebec.
  • In 1921, Canada had 2 territories and 9 provinces
1931 9,316 n/a 14.4 10
  • In censuses of 1931 and 1941, Canada had 2 territories and 9 provinces
1941 12,028 n/a 29.1 10
1951 16,004 n/a 33.1 10
  • In censuses of 1951 through 1996, Canada had 2 territories and 10 provinces
1956 19,313 20.7 n/a 11
1961 22,998 19.1 43.7 11
1966 28,738 25.0 48.8 11
1971 34,807 21.1 51.3 11
1976 42,609 22.4 48.3 11
1981 45,740 7.3 31.4 11
1986 52,235 14.2 22.6 11
1991 57,649 10.3 26.0 11
1996 64,402 11.7 23.2 11
2001 37,360 -42.0 -35.2 11
  • In 1999, NT ceded land to the creation of Nunavut.
  • In 2001, Canada had 3 territories and 10 provinces
2006 41,464 11.0 -35.6 11
  • Since 2001 census, Canada has 3 territories and 10 provinces
2011 41,462 0.0 10.9 11
2016 41,786 0.1 0.1 11

Source: Statistics Canada,[2][3][4] with Social Science Federation of Canada for 1871–1901[5]

Population geography[edit]

Ten largest population centres[edit]

Ten largest municipalities by population
Municipality 2011 2006 2001 1996
Yellowknife 19,234 18,700 16,541 17,275
Hay River 3,606 3,648 3,510 3,611
Inuvik 3,463 3,484 2,894 3,296
Fort Smith 2,093 2,364 2,185 2,441
Behchokǫ̀ 1,926 1,894 1,552 1,662
Fort Simpson 1,238 1,216 1,163 1,257
Tuktoyaktuk 854 870 930 943
Fort McPherson 792 776 761 878
Fort Providence 734 727 753 748
Norman Wells 727 761 666 798

Visible minorities and Aboriginals[edit]

Canada 2016 Census Population % of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[6] 		Filipino 1,300 3.2%
Black 760 1.8%
South Asian 615 1.5%
Chinese 300 0.7%
Southeast Asian 255 0.6%
Japanese 150 0.4%
Latin American 135 0.3%
Arab 100 0.2%
Korean 100 0.2%
West Asian 50 0.1%
Other visible minority 95 0.2%
Mixed visible minority 90 0.2%
Total visible minority population 3,960 9.6%
Aboriginal group
Source:[7] 		First Nations 13,180 37.5%
Inuit 4,075 9.9%
Métis 3,385 8.2%
Total Aboriginal population 20,860 50.7%
European 16,315 39.7%
Total population 41,786 100%

Languages[edit]

French was made an official language in 1877 by the appointed government, after lengthy and bitter debate resulting from a speech from the throne in 1888 by Lt. Governor Joseph Royal. The members voted on more than one occasion to nullify and make English the only language used in the assembly. After some conflict with Ottawa and a decisive vote on January 19, 1892, the issue was put to rest as an English-only territory.

In the early 1980s, the government of Northwest Territories was again under pressure by the federal government to reintroduce French as an official language. Some native members walked out of the assembly, protesting that they would not be permitted to speak their own language. The executive council appointed a special committee of MLAs to study the matter. They decided that if French was to be an official language, then so must the other languages in the territories.

The Northwest Territories's Official Languages Act recognizes the following eleven official languages, which is more than any other political division in Canada:[8]

NWT residents have a right to use any of the above languages in a territorial court and in debates and proceedings of the legislature. However, laws are legally binding only in their French and English versions, and the government only publishes laws and other documents in the territory's other official languages when the legislature asks it to. Furthermore, access to services in any language is limited to institutions and circumstances where there is significant demand for that language or where it is reasonable to expect it given the nature of the services requested. In reality, this means that English language services are universally available and there is no guarantee that other languages, including French, will be used by any particular government service except for the courts.

The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 41,464.
Of the 40,680 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages (official languages in bold) were:

Mother tongue Speakers Share
1. English 31,545 77.54%
2. Athapaskan languages 4,710 11.58%
Dogrib 1,950 4.79%
South Slavey 1,285 3.16%
North Slavey 835 2.05%
Chipewyan 390 0.96%
Gwich'in 190 0.47%
Dene 50 0.12%
3. French 975 2.40%
4. Inuktitut 695 1.71%
5. Malayo-Polynesian languages 530 1.30%
Tagalog 505 1.24%
6. Vietnamese 305 0.75%
7. Chinese 260 0.64%
Cantonese 120 0.29%
8. Algonquian languages 250 0.61%
Cree 190 0.47%
Ojibway 35 0.09%
9. German 190 0.47%
10= Arabic 105 0.26%
10= Creole 105 0.26%
12. Dutch 95 0.23%
13. Spanish 90 0.22%
14. Niger-Congo languages 80 0.20%
Bantu languages 55 0.14%
15. Yugoslavian languages 60 0.15%
16= Innuinaqtun 55 0.14%
16= Italian 55 0.14%

There were also about 40 single-language responses for Ukrainian; 35 for the Scandinavian languages, Slovak and Urdu; and 30 for Hungarian, the Iranian languages and Polish. In addition, there were also 320 responses of both English and a 'non-official language'; 15 of both French and a 'non-official language; 45 of both English and French, and about 400 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. The Northwest Territories' official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.)[9]

Religion[edit]

Religious beliefs in NWT (2011 census)[10]
Religion Adherents % of the population
Irreligious 12,450 30.51%
Christianity 27,050 66.3%
Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality 500 1.23%
Islam 275 0.67%
Buddhism 170 0.42%
Hinduism 70 0.17%
Judaism 40 0.1%
Sikhism 20 0.05%
Other religions 220 0.54%
Total 40,800 100%

Migration[edit]

Immigration[edit]

The 2016 Canadian census counted a total of 3,690 immigrants living in the Northwest Territories.

Immigrants in Northwest Territories by country of birth (2016 Census)[11]
Rank Country Population # % of total immigrants
1 Philippines 950 25.7%
2 United Kingdom 320 8.7%
3 United States 220 6%
4 India 185 5%
5 Vietnam 175 4.7%
6 Germany 125 3.4%
7 China 110 3%
8 Bangladesh 95 2.6%
9 Jamaica 80 2.2%
10 South Korea 75 2%
11 Pakistan 70 1.9%
12 Japan 65 1.8%
13 Zimbabwe 65 1.8%
14 Sudan 55 1.5%
15 Italy 40 1.1%

Internal migration[edit]

Net cumulative interprovincial migration per Province from 1997 to 2017, as a share of population of each Provinces
Main article: Interprovincial migration in Canada

A total of 12,100 people moved to the Northwest Territories from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 15,955 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net influx of 825 from Newfoundland and Labrador, 295 from Nunavut, 235 from Quebec and 195 from Nova Scotia; and a net outmigration of 3,955 to Alberta, 705 to British Columbia, 260 to Manitoba, 245 to Ontario and 230 to the Yukon. (All inter-provincial movements and official minority movements of more than 100 persons are given.)[12][13]

See also[edit]

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

References[edit]

  1. ^ "History of the Name of the Northwest Territories". Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Government of the Northwest Territories. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  2. ^ Population urban and rural, by province and territory (Northwest Territories) Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Canada, 2005.
  3. ^ Canada's population Archived November 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Canada. Last accessed September 28, 2006.
  4. ^ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, 2011 and 2006 censuses". Statistics Canada. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  5. ^ "Series A2-14. Population of Canada, by province, census dates, 1851 to 1976". Historical Statistics of Canada | Section A: Population and Migration (PDF). Statistics Canada and Social Science Federation of Canada (Report). 1983. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  6. ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Northwest Territories [Territory] and Canada [Country] Visible Minority". Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  7. ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Northwest Territories [Territory] and Canada [Country] Aboriginal peoples". Statistics Canada. August 9, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003)
  9. ^ Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
  10. ^ StatCan. "NHS Profile, Northwest Territories, 2011". Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Immigrant population by place of birth, period of immigration, 2016 counts, both sexes, age (total), Northwest Territories, 2016 Census – 25% Sample data".
  12. ^ Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2006 Census) Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2001 census)
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