History of Northwest Territories capital cities Yellowknife; and has gained control over administering its own elections from Elections Canada. Education is now under the jurisdiction of the territorial government and the territory has most powers afforded to the rest of the provinces. There has even talk by the Federal government of the territories gaining provincial status in the future. As chronicled above, all seven capitals throughout the history of the Northwest Territories were chosen by some form of external government decision, though the Carrothers Commission did consult with the territorial population to guide its decision. After the selection of Yellowknife as the capital in 1967, many
Yellowknife Yellowknife began with the discovery of diamonds north of the city in 1991. The last of the gold mines in Yellowknife closed in 2004. Today, Yellowknife is primarily a government town and a service centre for the diamond mines. On April 1, 1999, its purview as capital of the NWT was reduced when the territory of Nunavut was split from the NWT. As a result, jurisdiction for that region of Canada was transferred to the new capital city of Iqaluit. Consequently, Yellowknife lost its standing as the Canadian capital city with the smallest population. Yellowknife is on the Canadian Shield,