Travel to Northwest Territories

Flying to Northwest Territories

The best way to reach the more remote areas within the territory is by air. Float planes are commonly used to reach the northern lakes. The largest operators into the region are Air Canada (AC) (www.aircanada.com), First Air (7F) (www.firstair.ca) and Canadian North (5T) (www.canadiannorth.com), which flies to the Northwest Territories from Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa (not all of them direct). Numerous regional airlines offer scheduled and charter services to communities within the Northwest Territories.

Airport Guides

Travelling to Northwest Territories by Rail

Driving to Northwest Territories

Larger animals, such as bison and moose, can substantially damage or destroy a car, often causing serious injuries.

Getting to Northwest Territories by boat

Cruise ships

Day cruises are available from Yellowknife and other locations on Great Slave Lake during the summer. Longer guided canoe trips and river-rafting trips are offered on the Nahanni River and other more remote rivers.

Ferry operators

The territorial government provides free ferry crossings for road travellers during the summer months for the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence, for the Mackenzie and Arctic Red Rivers at Tsiigehtchic, for the Liard River at Fort Simpson and for the Peel River at Fort McPherson. During winter, ice bridges are provided at these crossings, but no crossing is available for some weeks in spring and autumn each year during the break-up and freeze-up of the ice (tel: 1 800 661 0750 for day-to-day information).