Demographics of the Northwest Territories

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
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
187148,000n/an/a5
188156,446n/a17.67
189198,967n/a75.37
  • In 1886, NWT gained land back from District of Keewatin.
  • In 1891, Canada had 2 territories and 7 provinces
1901184,430n/a86.46
  • 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
19116,507n/a-96.511
  • 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
19218,143n/a25.110
  • 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
19319,316n/a14.410
  • In censuses of 1931 and 1941, Canada had 2 territories and 9 provinces
194112,028n/a29.110
195116,004n/a33.110
  • In censuses of 1951 through 1996, Canada had 2 territories and 10 provinces
195619,31320.7n/a11
196122,99819.143.711
196628,73825.048.811
197134,80721.151.311
197642,60922.448.311
198145,7407.331.411
198652,23514.222.611
199157,64910.326.011
199664,40211.723.211
200137,360-42.0-35.211
  • In 1999, NT ceded land to the creation of Nunavut.
  • In 2001, Canada had 3 territories and 10 provinces
200641,46411.0-35.611
  • Since 2001 census, Canada has 3 territories and 10 provinces
201141,4620.010.911
201641,7860.10.111

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

Population geography

Ten largest population centres
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 Indigenous peoples
Indigenous identity by community, 2021
Visible minority and Indigenous population (Canada 2021 Census)[6]
Population groupPopulation %
European[lower-alpha 1]15,43038.2%
Visible minority group
South Asian7701.9%
Chinese3350.8%
Black1,0602.6%
Filipino1,6654.1%
Arab2250.6%
Latin American1250.3%
Southeast Asian3050.8%
West Asian350.1%
Korean750.2%
Japanese1050.3%
Visible minority, n.i.e.500.1%
Multiple visible minorities1700.4%
Total visible minority population4,91512.2%
Indigenous group
First Nations (North American Indian)12,31530.5%
Métis2,8907.2%
Inuk (Inuit)4,15010.3%
Multiple Indigenous responses4051.0%
Indigenous responses n.i.e.2700.7%
Total Indigenous population20,03549.6%
Total population40,380100.0%

Languages

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:[7]

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.)[8]

Religion
Religious beliefs in NWT (2011 census)[9]
Religion Adherents  % of the population
Christianity27,05066.3%
Irreligious12,45030.51%
Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality5001.23%
Islam2750.67%
Buddhism1700.42%
Hinduism700.17%
Judaism400.1%
Sikhism200.05%
Other religions2200.54%
Total40,800100%

Migration

Immigration
Northwest Territories Immigration Statistics[10]: 239 [11]: 108 
Year Immigrant percentage Immigrant population Total population
1881 0.8% 453 56,446
1891 18.9% 18,712 98,967
1901 0.7% 147 20,129
1911 1.8% 116 6,507
1921 2.5% 207 8,143
1931 5.7% 534 9,316
1941 6.8% 818 12,028
1951 6.5% 1,042 16,004
1961 8.5% 1,963 22,998
1971 6.4% 2,245 34,810

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)[12]
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
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.)[13][14]

See also
Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

Notes
  1. Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.

References
  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. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-10-26). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  7. Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003)
  8. Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
  9. StatCan. "NHS Profile, Northwest Territories, 2011". Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  10. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2013-04-03). "Sixth census of Canada,1921 . Vol. II: Ages, conjugal condition, birthplace, birthplace of parents, year of immigration and naturalization, language spoken, literacy, school attendance, blindness and deaf-mutism". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  11. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (4 September 2022). "1971 Census of Canada : population : vol. I – part 3 = Recensement du Canada 1971 : population : vol. I – partie 3. Birthplace. TABLE 42. Population Bom Outside Canada, Showing Numerical and Percentage Distribution, for Canada and Provinces, 1921-1971". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  12. "Immigrant population by place of birth, period of immigration, 2016 counts, both sexes, age (total), Northwest Territories, 2016 Census – 25% Sample data".
  13. 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
  14. Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2001 census)
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