Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[5] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[6] Canada Flight Supplement[7] ^A 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[8] ^B 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[8]
However, according to the history of the area provided by the town, the first permanent settlement in the area of Hay River was established in what is now the Katl'odeeche First Nation or Hay River Reserve. This was sometime between 1892 and 1893. This first settlement was established by Chief Chiatlo and a group of people by the building of log cabins and bringing dairy cows. This was followed in 1893 by the Anglican Mission, at the request of Chief Chiatlo in 1893 with the Roman Catholic Mission and the Hudson's Bay Company arriving later.[9]
A school, health centre and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed, and as part of the Canol Road project the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a runway on Vale Island in the Hay River delta. In 1948 the Government of Canada built a gravel road, now the Mackenzie Highway, from Grimshaw, Alberta to Hay River, making it the first community in the NWT to be linked with southern Canada.[9] The settlement's role as terminus of all-season trucking, and the establishment of a commercial fishing industry, started an economic boom. In 1949, the community organized its first community government, forming an Administrative District under the direction of the Government of Canada, run by a trustee board with two elected members, two appointed members, and a chairman.[12]
In 2022, the town suffered flooding caused by ice breakup on the Hay River, resulting in an evacuation order for the entire community.[16][17] Ice jams built up in two channels, and combined with a wide-ranging storm system, and already waterlogged ground resulted in a larger than normal flood.[18] Hay River also flooded in 1963,[16] 2008, 2009, and 2020.[19]
On 25 August 2023 the entire town population was ordered to evacuate by the government of the Northwest Territories due to the 2023 Canadian wildfires.[20]
Airlines servicing Hay River include the locally based Buffalo Airways, who provide scheduled flights to Yellowknife as well as charter services and a courier service throughout the north.[24][25]First Air provides scheduled services to Yellowknife with connections elsewhere.[26]Northwestern Air also offers scheduled service to Edmonton and Fort Smith. Other companies offering charter services in Hay River include Landa Aviation, Carter Air Services (fixed-wing aircraft), Denendeh Helicopters and Remote Helicopters.[27]
Religious services include a Catholic church, an Anglican/Grace United church, a Baptist church, a Pentecostal church, and a Community Fellowship within New Town. There is also a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall along the highway coming into town. On the Katl'odeeche First Nations Reserve there are a small Catholic church, and a larger Pentecostal church. There is also an Anglican church that was destroyed in the 2008 Hay River ice breakup. The religious diversity in Hay River exceeds the outward appearance given by these services.
CKHR-FM 107.3 is a community radio station in Hay River, and the only station in Hay River to maintain local studios; it is owned and operated by the Hay River Community Service Society. Other radio stations in Hay River are repeaters of stations based in Yellowknife.[27]
Television
The Hay River Community Service Society also controls television broadcasting and it is paid for through property taxes, at a rate of $36 per household per year.[34] Channels 2–5, 7, and 8–13 rebroadcast Canadian and US channels in analog format from towers atop the Mackenzie Place highrise. Transmitter powers range from 9W to 2.545 kW. Channels include CIHC-TV channel 5, a community channel; CH4435 channel 8, rebroadcasting Radio-Canada through CBFT Montreal; and CH4160 channel 12, repeating the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network; among other channels. The local CBC-owned CBC Northtelevision repeater, CBEBT-1 channel 7, closed on 31 July 2012;[35] however, the Hay River Community Service Society announced that it acquired the transmitter, which they intended to use for CBC Television service.[34]
Hay River has a subarctic climate (KöppenDfc) with summer lasting for about three months. Although winter temperatures are usually below freezing, every month of the year has seen temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F). Rainfall, which can occur throughout the year, averages 217.4 mm (8.56 in) and snowfall 138.9 cm (54.7 in). From December to January on average there are 71.8 days when the wind chill is below −30, which indicates that frostbite may occur within 10 – 30 minutes.[39][40]
The highest temperature ever recorded in Hay River was 36.7 °C (98.1 °F) on 9 August 1981.[40] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −52.2 °C (−62.0 °F) on 23 January 1906.[41]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hay River had a population of 3,169 living in 1,274 of its 1,541 total private dwellings, a change of -10.2% from its 2016 population of 3,528. With a land area of 122.4 km2 (47.3 sq mi), it had a population density of 25.9/km2 (67.1/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
^ ab"Daily Data Report for January 1906". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for December 1896". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for September 1901". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for September 1903". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for February 1906". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for July 1906". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for May 1907". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for April 1908". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for October 1908". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for December 1917". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for June 1920". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for October 1923". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for July 1928". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for August 1928". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Daily Data Report for March 1929". Canadian Climate Data. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 31 October 2011. Climate ID: 2202398. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^"Table 6: Population by census subdivisions, 1901–1961". 1961 Census of Canada(PDF). Series 1.1: Historical, 1901–1961. Vol. I: Population. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 8 March 1963. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
^"Table 2: Population of Census Subdivisions, 1921–1971". 1971 Census of Canada(PDF). Population. Vol. Census Subdivisions (Historical). Ottawa: Statistics Canada. July 1973. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
DiLabio, R. N. W. Kimberlitic Indicator Minerals in the Geological Survey of Canada's Archived Till Samples Results of Analysis of Samples from Victoria Island and the Hay River Area, Northwest Territories. [Canada]: Geological Survey of Canada, 1997.