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The North-Western Territory at its greatest extent, 1859 The North-Western Territory was a region of British North America until 1870 . Named for where it lay in relation to Rupert's Land , the territory at its greatest extent covered what is now Yukon , mainland Northwest Territories , northwestern mainland Nunavut , northwestern Saskatchewan , northern Alberta and northern British Columbia . It is obscure when exactly Great Britain first asserted sovereignty over the territory; however, after France accepted British sovereignty over the Hudson Bay coast by the Treaty Of Utrecht (1713) , Great Britain was the only European power with practical access to that part of the continent. The Hudson's Bay Company , despite the royal charter assigning only Rupert's Land to the company, had long used the region as part of its trading area before the governance of the North-Western Territory was explicitly assigned to the company in 1859 . The British made virtually no effort to assert sovereignty over the Aboriginal Peoples of the area. In accordance with the Royal Proclamation Of 1763 , large-scale settlement by non-Aboriginal people was prohibited until the lands were surrendered by Treaty . In 1862 during the Cariboo Gold Rush , part of the North-Western Territory became the Stickeen Territory to enable easier governance from the west coast. The following year, part of the area returned to the North-Western Territory when boundaries were adjusted and British Columbia was extended to the north. In 1868 , shortly after Canadian Confederation , the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to surrender its vast territories to the new Dominion . However, it was not until July 15 , 1870 , that the transfer to Canada was made. On that date the North-Western Territory became part of the newly created Northwest Territories . |
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