Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Later name: Scouts Canada. Northwest Territories and Nunavut Council
- Informal name: NWT Scout Council
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The first Boy Scout troop in the NWT was founded in Hay River in 1916. The movement grew slowly at first but gathered strength in the late 1950s and 1960s. Beginning in 1963, the national council's Committee for Arctic and Northern Scouting was responsible for getting new groups established and planning large projects, while provincial councils in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec provided day-to-day guidance and support to Scout groups in the NWT.
Toward the end of the 1960s, the Arctic and Northern Committee decided that Scout groups in the NWT should be served by a council within the NWT, due to increased east-west communications within the NWT as well as a feeling that a northern-based administrative body would better understand and support northern groups. In 1971, the new Northwest Territories Council was chartered. This Council reported directly to the national council, on a level with the provincial councils.
The NWT Council was responsible for overall strategic planning and coordination for Scouting in the NWT. The Council coordinated the registration of members, forwarding national membership fees and registration numbers to the National Council. It organized three NWT Jamborees and other territorial events, programs, and initiatives, as well as providing advice and oversight for regional and local events. The NWT Council produced a number of publications, including the Boreas newsletter aimed at Scouters in the NWT, as well as newsletters and annual reports discussing the activities of the NWT Council itself. The Council also operated two Scout shops in Iqaluit (then Frobisher Bay) and Yellowknife, from which groups could order badges, uniforms, and equipment.
The NWT Council initially divided the territory into five regions: Mackenzie, Great Slave Lake, Arctic, Baffin, and Keewatin. A sixth region, the Yellowknife Region, was added in 1978 and remained until 1996, when it was changed to the Yellowknife District. Between 1995 and 1999 all the regional councils became inactive, so support to groups was provided directly by the NWT Council. With the creation of Nunavut in 1999, the Council changed its name to the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Council and continued to provide support for groups in both territories.
In 2003, due to logistical issues and declining membership, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Council was dissolved. Scout groups in the NWT became part of the Northern Lights Council in northern Alberta, while those in Nunavut joined the Voyageur Council in northern Ontario.