Fort Providence facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fort Providence Zhahti Koe, Zhahti Kue
Hamlet
Fort Providence from the Mackenzie River
Fort Providence Location in Northwest Territories Show map of Northwest Territories Fort Providence Location in Canada Show map of Canada
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	South Slave Region
Constituency	Deh Cho
Census division	Region 4
Hamlet	1 January 1987
Area
• Land	255.05 km2 (98.48 sq mi)
Elevation	160 m (520 ft)
Population  (2011)
• 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(s)	867
Telephone exchange	699
- Living cost	137.5
- Food price index	134.7
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Canada Flight Supplement 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100

Fort Providence (Slave: Zhahti Koe, Zhahti Kue, lit. 'mission house') 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 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.

Demographics

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 (6.2/sq mi) in 2021.

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

First Nations

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

Gallery

Fort Providence from the river

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.