Fort Providence

Not to be confused with Old Fort Providence.

Fort Providence (Slave: Zhahti Koe, Zhahti Kue, lit. 'mission house'^{[pronunciation?]}) is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Located west of Great Slave Lake, it has all-weather road connections by way of the Yellowknife Highway (Great Slave Highway) branch off the Mackenzie Highway, and the Deh Cho Bridge opened November 30, 2012, near Fort Providence over the Mackenzie. The bridge replaced the ice bridge and ferry, enabling year-round crossing of the river.

Fort Providence Zhahti Koe, Zhahti Kue
Hamlet
Fort Providence from the Mackenzie River
Fort Providence Show map of Northwest Territories Fort Providence Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 61°21′17″N 117°39′36″W
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	South Slave Region
Constituency	Deh Cho
Census division	Region 4
Hamlet	1 January 1987
Government
• Mayor	Danny Beaulieu[1]
• MP	Michael McLeod
Area [2]
• Land	255.05 km2 (98.48 sq mi)
Elevation	160 m (520 ft)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	695
• Density	2.7/km2 (7/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X0E 0L0
Area code	867
Telephone exchange	699
- Living cost	137.5A
- Food price index	134.7B
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[3] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[4] Canada Flight Supplement[5] ^A 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[6] ^B 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[6]

Fort Providence hosts the annual Mackenzie Days celebrations in August each year.

History

Fort Providence was founded in the 1860s as a Catholic mission site. By 1868, the Hudson's Bay Company, which previously has a trading post at Big Island at the source of the MacKenzie River, moved the post to the location of the mission site. From that moment, the settlement was known as Fort Providence. In 1867, the Grey Nuns opened a boarding school and an orphanage in the settlement. Instruction languages were English and French, and most of the nuns originated from Quebec.^[7]

Demographics

Federal census population history of Fort Providence

Year	Pop.	±%
1976	602	—
1981	605	+0.5%
1986	588	−2.8%
1991	645	+9.7%
1996	748	+16.0%
2001	753	+0.7%
2006	727	−3.5%
2011	734	+1.0%
2016	695	−5.3%
2021	618	−11.1%
Source: Statistics Canada [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][2][15]

Annual population estimates

Year Pop. ±% 1996 774 —     1997 828 +7.0% 1998 843 +1.8% 1999 842 −0.1% 2000 837 −0.6% 2001 819 −2.2% 2002 803 −2.0% 2003 824 +2.6% 2004 801 −2.8% 2005 799 −0.2% 2006 757 −5.3%	Year Pop. ±% 2007 744 −1.7% 2008 742 −0.3% 2009 752 +1.3% 2010 748 −0.5% 2011 771 +3.1% 2012 778 +0.9% 2013 789 +1.4% 2014 788 −0.1% 2015 798 +1.3% 2016 788 −1.3% 2017 770 −2.3%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[16]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort Providence had a population of 618 living in 256 of its 292 total private dwellings, a change of -11.1% from its 2016 population of 695. With a land area of 255.49 km² (98.65 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.4/km² (6.3/sq mi) in 2021.^[15]

In 2016, the majority of its population, 620, were Indigenous people, made up of 590 First Nations, Dene people, and 30 Métis.^[2]

First Nations

The Dene of the community are represented by the Deh Gáh Got'ı̨ę First Nation^[17] and the Métis by Fort Providence Métis Nation.^[18] Both groups belong to the Dehcho First Nations.^[19]

Gallery

Fort Providence from the river

• 
  Fort Providence Health Centre
• 
  Our Lady of Providence RC Mission in Fort Providence
• 
  Providence Mission Indian Residential School showing new Roman Catholic Mission on the left, circa 1930
• 
  Fort Providence Deh Cho Land Use Planning Committee & Dene Fur Clouds sign
• 
  The Merv Hardie ferry in use before the bridge was opened.
• 
  The Deh Cho Bridge

Climate

Fort Providence has a continental subarctic climate (Dfc) typical of the Northwest Territories' populated areas. It is marked by a long cold winter season and short, warm summers, that in many ways are warmer than expected for an area so far north. Transition seasons are extremely short, with temperatures rising and falling quickly in respective seasons.

Climate data for Fort Providence WMO ID: 71087; coordinates 61°19′01″N 117°36′07″W; elevation: 161.5 m (530 ft); 1991−2020 normals
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high humidex	10.1	9.6	16.4	22.9	31.2	35.7	37.9	36.5	31.8	24.1	11.9	11.8	37.9
Record high °C (°F)	7.0 (44.6)	9.9 (49.8)	16.5 (61.7)	22.9 (73.2)	31.3 (88.3)	34.3 (93.7)	35.2 (95.4)	35.3 (95.5)	30.7 (87.3)	24.2 (75.6)	12.0 (53.6)	11.8 (53.2)	35.3 (95.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−18.5 (−1.3)	−13.2 (8.2)	−6.5 (20.3)	4.9 (40.8)	13.9 (57.0)	21.3 (70.3)	23.9 (75.0)	21.0 (69.8)	14.3 (57.7)	3.7 (38.7)	−8.5 (16.7)	−16.6 (2.1)	3.3 (37.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−22.9 (−9.2)	−19.0 (−2.2)	−13.8 (7.2)	−1.9 (28.6)	7.1 (44.8)	14.1 (57.4)	17.1 (62.8)	14.7 (58.5)	8.6 (47.5)	−0.1 (31.8)	−12.4 (9.7)	−20.6 (−5.1)	−2.4 (27.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−27.2 (−17.0)	−24.7 (−12.5)	−21.2 (−6.2)	−8.7 (16.3)	0.3 (32.5)	6.8 (44.2)	10.3 (50.5)	8.3 (46.9)	2.8 (37.0)	−3.9 (25.0)	−16.1 (3.0)	−24.4 (−11.9)	−8.1 (17.4)
Record low °C (°F)	−46.8 (−52.2)	−43.5 (−46.3)	−40.4 (−40.7)	−36.0 (−32.8)	−16.3 (2.7)	−3.5 (25.7)	−2.0 (28.4)	−2.3 (27.9)	−9.9 (14.2)	−27.3 (−17.1)	−36.8 (−34.2)	−43.3 (−45.9)	−46.8 (−52.2)
Record low wind chill	−51.2	−52.5	−46.5	−43.0	−23.8	−5.2	−3.2	−4.2	−11.8	−33.7	−40.9	−51.0	−52.5
Average relative humidity (%) (at 1500 LST)	75.4	67.0	52.5	44.7	41.5	42.9	46.2	50.9	55.0	71.1	82.7	79.7	59.1
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada[20]

See also

• List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories
• Fort Providence Airport
• Fort Providence Water Aerodrome