Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0Hay River, on the municipal record since 1963
The typical town keeps 18% of its homes from before 1961; here it is 3.5%. A further one sits a short way past the edge of town.
Hay River, long ago
The past in one picture: one old photograph of the town. Tap the picture to enlarge it.
1922Public domain or CC0, made before 1950, from Wikimedia Commons; old views of places can be drawings, prints or maps of their time. Each credit opens the image’s page.
Just outside Hay River
Places the registers give to the town from within 5 km of its edge, nearest first.
Just outside Hay River: 1
| Hay River Mission SitesNational Historic Site · 100 m outside the town |
The biggest share of Hay River’s homes dates from 1961 to 1980: 44%
Half of the homes standing in Hay River today were built before 2001. New building has been slow in Hay River: 2.8% of homes date from 2016–21, where most towns have 4.1%. 32% of Hay River’s homes date from 1981 to 2000, well above the typical 23%.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Hay River in brief
Its oldest homes, those from before 1961, are 3.5% of the total, against 18% in the typical town. The other figures are unremarkable: it has no historic place, where the middle town its size has 1.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
- The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- The tiers. National Historic Sites and the most protected buildings form the top tier; recognized federal buildings, stations and lighthouses the second; provincial and municipal listings the third.
- Provincial and municipal lists. Outside Québec, provinces’ and municipalities’ heritage registers aren’t open data; their places are known only through Wikidata items with a register number, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
- The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
- Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
Questions about Hay River’s history
When did Hay River become a municipality?
Wikidata gives June 27, 1963 for Hay River, which may mark incorporation or an amalgamation rather than a founding.
How old are the homes in Hay River?
3.5% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).