Canada’s North: the territories, the Arctic and the Inuit

The North is one of Canada’s five regions. It covers about one-third of the country’s land, yet very few people live there. Questions about the North are usually short: a capital, a year, a river, a mountain or a word in Inuktitut. This guide explains the land, the history and the people of the three territories, shows how a territory is different from a province, and ends with the facts people mix up most often. For a table of every capital and joining date, see Canada’s provinces, territories and capitals.

The North at a glance

• The Northern Territories are one of Canada’s five regions. The region is made up of three territories: Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
• Together the three territories cover about one-third of Canada’s land, but only a very small share of Canadians live there.
• The Arctic Ocean lies to the north. Canada touches three oceans: the Pacific in the west, the Atlantic in the east and the Arctic in the north.
• The three capitals, from west to east: Whitehorse (Yukon), Yellowknife (Northwest Territories) and Iqaluit (Nunavut).
• Three years to know: the Northwest Territories were formed in 1870, Yukon became a separate territory in 1898, and Nunavut was created in 1999.

The Land of the Midnight Sun

The North is often called the Land of the Midnight Sun. In the middle of summer, the sun can stay in the sky for 24 hours. In winter it is the opposite: the sun disappears, and it can stay dark for about three months. Remember that the midnight sun belongs to summer, not winter.

Much of the North is tundra, cold land where no trees grow. The climate is very harsh. Canada’s coldest temperature ever recorded, −63°C, was in Yukon. Many people guess Nunavut because it is farther north, but the record belongs to Yukon.

Yukon: gold and mountains

In the 1890s, thousands of miners rushed north to look for gold in the Klondike. This was the Klondike Gold Rush. Yukon became a separate territory in 1898, during the gold rush, and mining is still an important part of its economy.

Yukon lies next to Alaska. In 1900 the White Pass and Yukon Railway opened between Skagway, in Alaska, and Whitehorse. Today it is a popular scenic route for tourists.

Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain, is in Yukon, not in British Columbia. It is named after Sir William Logan, the geologist who founded the Geological Survey of Canada.

The Northwest Territories: a great river and diamonds

The Northwest Territories were formed in 1870 from Rupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory. This happened when Canada took over the huge North-West from the Hudson’s Bay Company, which had received its trading rights from King Charles II in 1670.

The Mackenzie River, about 4,200 km long, flows through the Northwest Territories. It is the second-longest river system in North America; only the Mississippi system in the United States is longer.

The capital, Yellowknife, is called the “diamond capital of North America”.

Nunavut: “our land”

Nunavut was created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. It is Canada’s newest territory. Its name means “our land” in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, and most of the people who live there are Inuit. Inuktitut is an official language in Nunavut. (Canada’s two national official languages are still English and French.)

The capital, Iqaluit, was once called Frobisher Bay. The old name honoured Martin Frobisher, an English explorer who explored the Arctic for Queen Elizabeth I in 1576.

The Inuit and other Indigenous peoples of the North

The word Inuit means “the people” in Inuktitut. The Inuit live in small communities scattered across the Arctic. Long before Europeans arrived, they lived off the wildlife of the land and the sea. Their knowledge of the land, the sea and the animals let them adapt to one of the harshest environments on Earth.

• The Inuit are one of three Indigenous groups in Canada, together with First Nations and the Métis. They are the smallest of the three groups.
• The Inuit are not a First Nation. They are a separate people with their own language.
• In the North-West, the Cree and the Dene were hunter-gatherers before Europeans arrived. Both are First Nations.
• Kenojuak Ashevak was a pioneer of modern Inuit art, known for her prints, etchings and soapstone sculptures.

To learn more about First Nations, Inuit and Métis, read our guide to Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Resources and work

Mining is very important in the North. The territories produce gold, diamonds and other minerals. A simple way to remember it: gold points to Yukon and the Klondike, and diamonds point to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.

How a territory is different from a province

Provinces and territories look alike in many ways. Each one has a capital city and an elected legislature, whose members are usually called MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly). Each government is led by a premier. Citizens have the responsibility to vote in federal, provincial or territorial, and local elections. Publicly funded education is provided by the provinces and territories, not by the federal government.

The key difference is where their power comes from. The provinces get their powers directly from the Constitution. The territories use powers that Parliament delegates (gives) to them.

Because the territories have Commissioners, Canada has 10 Lieutenant Governors, not 13. People in these posts change over time, so the test does not ask for their names. To see who serves now, visit the website of the territory’s legislative assembly.

Which territory? A quick check

Common mix-ups

• The three capitals. Whitehorse is Yukon, Yellowknife is the Northwest Territories, and Iqaluit is Nunavut. Yukon and Yellowknife both start with “Y”, but they do not go together.
• Territory vs province. Provinces get their powers from the Constitution; territories get delegated powers from Parliament.
• Commissioner vs Lieutenant Governor. A Commissioner represents the federal government in a territory. A Lieutenant Governor represents the King in a province.
• 1870 vs 1898 vs 1999. 1870: the Northwest Territories are formed (the same year Manitoba joins). 1898: Yukon becomes a separate territory. 1999: Nunavut is created.
• Gold vs diamonds. The Klondike Gold Rush was in Yukon. The diamond capital is Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories.
• Coldest and highest. Both records are in Yukon: −63°C and Mount Logan. Not Nunavut, and not British Columbia.
• Inuit vs Métis vs First Nations. The Inuit live in the Arctic and speak Inuktitut. The Métis are a people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry who live mostly on the Prairies and speak Michif. First Nations are Indigenous people who are neither Inuit nor Métis.
• “Inuit” vs “Nunavut”. Inuit means “the people”. Nunavut means “our land”.
• Five regions vs three territories. Canada has five regions, and the North is one of them. Labrador is part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, not a territory.

For oceans, rivers and climate across the whole country, see Canada’s geography. Then review the Canada’s Regions chapter and test yourself with Practice Test 1.