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 of Northwest Territories since 1871

Year	Population	five-year % change	ten-year % change	Rank among provinces and territories
1871	48,000	n/a	n/a	6
1881	56,446	n/a	17.6	7
1891	98,967	n/a	75.3	7
1901	20,129*	n/a	-79.7	11
1911	6,507**	n/a	-67.7	11
1921	8,143	n/a	25.1	10
1931	9,316	n/a	14.4	10
1941	12,028	n/a	29.1	10
1951	16,004	n/a	33.1	11
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	34,805	21.1	51.3	11
1976	42,610	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
2006	41,464	11.0	-35.6	11
2011	41,462	0.0	10.9	11
2016	41,786	0.1	0.1	11

*Note: Yukon Territory was ceded from Northwest Territories in 1898.

**Note: Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from parts of Northwest Territories in 1905.

***Note: Data through 1996 includes Nunavut. 2001 data does not include Nunavut.

Source: Statistics Canada [1][2][3]

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
Behchoko	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

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:[4]

• Chipewyan
• Cree
• English
• French
• Gwich’in
• Inuinnaqtun
• Inuktitut
• Inuvialuktun
• North Slavey
• South Slavey
• Tłįchǫ

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 were:

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.)[5]

Migration

Immigration

The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 2,815 immigrants living in the Northwest Territories.
The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were: [6]

1.	Philippines	555
2.	United Kingdom	345
3.	Vietnam	245
4.	United States	235
5.	Germany	130
6=	China	100
6=	Ghana	100
8=	Hong Kong	65
8=	Netherlands	65
10=	former Yugoslavia	45
10=	Italy	45
12=	Australia	40
12=	France	40
12=	South Africa	40

There were also about thirty-five immigrants from Pakistan; and about thirty each from India, Lebanon, Nigeria and Slovakia.

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.)[7][8]

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2006 Census)
Population group		Population	% of total population
European		18,160	44.2%
Visible minority group Source:[9]	South Asian	210	0.5%
	Chinese	315	0.8%
	Black	375	0.9%
	Filipino	695	1.7%
	Latin American	85	0.2%
	Arab	85	0.2%
	Southeast Asian	355	0.9%
	West Asian	40	0.1%
	Korean	15	0%
	Japanese	15	0%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	30	0.1%
	Multiple visible minority	40	0.1%
Total visible minority population		2,265	5.5%
Aboriginal group Source:[10]	First Nations	12,640	30.8%
	Métis	3,585	8.7%
	Inuit	4,165	10.1%
	Aboriginal, n.i.e.	145	0.4%
	Multiple Aboriginal identity	105	0.3%
Total Aboriginal population		20,635	50.3%
Total population		41,060	100%

See also

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

• Demographics of Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory

References

1. Population urban and rural, by province and territory (Northwest Territories) Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Canada, 2005.
2. Canada's population Archived November 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Canada. Last accessed September 28, 2006.
3. "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, 2011 and 2006 censuses". Statistics Canada. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
4. Northwest Territories Official Languages Act, 1988 Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (as amended 1988, 1991-1992, 2003)
5. Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)
6. Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (8) and Place of Birth (261) (2006 Census)
7. 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
8. Province or Territory of Residence 5 Years Ago (14), Mother Tongue (8), Age Groups (16) and Sex (3) (2001 census)
9. Territories&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=, Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Province/Territory
10. Territories&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=, Aboriginal Population Profile from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Province/Territory