A Look at Canada

The North

Key Words Northwest Territories Nunavut Yukon Gold Rush “Land of the Midnight Sun”

Canada’s northern region is divided into the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Together, they cover more than one-third of Canada. The Canadian government is responsible for the territories but elected legislatures make decisions on most issues. The people in the Northwest Territories voted to make the eastern region into a new, separate territory called Nunavut. It came into existence on April 1, 1999.

The people

Aboriginal people have lived in the North for thousands of years and have developed a special relationship with the land. They use their skills as hunters, fishers and trappers to survive in the harsh northern climate.

Inuit sculpture

The Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut make up more than one-third of Canada’s land mass, but only about 100,000 people live there. Aboriginal people make up about half the population in the North. The territorial governments have also given legal recognition to several Aboriginal languages.

Land claim settlements and self-government agreements have played a major role in the development of the North in recent years. Through these agreements, First Nations people have gained greater control over their land and decisions that affect them.

The economy

Europeans first came to the North in the late 1600s because of the fur trade. The Hudson’s Bay Company controlled the northern lands and fur trade for 300 years. Some northern people, including many Aboriginal peoples, still earn money and obtain food through hunting, fishing and trapping.

Mining, oil and gas are very important to the northern economy. Thousands of miners first came to the Yukon during the Gold Rush at the end of the 1800s. There are gold, lead, diamond and zinc mines in the territories today. Oil and gas deposits are being developed and people continue to explore for more of these valuable resources.

Inuit prints and soapstone carvings are sold throughout Canada and around the world. In the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, many Aboriginal people work in cooperative businesses to produce Aboriginal arts and crafts. Tourism is also a growing industry.

Economic development in the North is welcome, but it must be carefully managed so it does not threaten the fragile Arctic ecosystem and the traditional lifestyles of the northern people.

The climate

The North is sometimes called the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” At the height of summer, daylight can last up to 24 hours. In winter, the sun disappears, and darkness sets in for three months. Winters in the North are long and cold. During the brief summers, the land blossoms.

The Yukon holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada (−63°C). Most of the North is made up of tundra, the vast rocky Arctic plain. Because of the cold Arctic climate, there are no trees on the tundra, and the soil is permanently frozen.