Northwest Territories, Government of - Health & Social Services

The Northwest Territories became an official territory of Canada in the 1940s. It is located in northern Canada and stretches from the Arctic Ocean in the north, west to the Mackenzie Mountains, and south to the borders of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and east to the Nunavut border. Our landscape ranges from mountain ranges to valleys, plains, and rolling Canadian Shield, with vegetation characteristic of both boreal forest and polar desert. Summer temperatures can reach 30 degrees Celsius, and in the winter the thermometer falls below minus 40 degrees Celsius - at least some of the time.

The NT is like no other part of Canada. We have one city (Yellowknife), four towns and numerous villages, settlements and hamlets. Aboriginal people indigenous to the NT -the Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit- have legends, stories, traditions and skills to share. Our ties to the land are crucial, especially in our smaller communities, where hunting, fishing, and trapping help to sustain many families. We are a territory with eight official languages. The economy is expanding rapidly resulting from resource discoveries in diamonds, oil and natural gas coupled with a thriving tourist industry. For additional information about the Northwest Territories, please visit www.gov.nt.ca