Fort Good Hope Co-operative

Community owned Co-operatives in the Arctic are multi-purpose businesses that provide a wide range of services to their members and their communities. Services provided by local Co-ops include retail stores, hotel and tourism operations, cable television, arts and craft marketing, fuel distribution, construction & heavy equipment services, property rental and a variety of agency type services. Fort Good Hope Co-operative operates a retail facility in the community including fuel distribution. The traditional name of Fort Good Hope is”Radili Ko (rapids) and is about 35 kms south of the Arctic Circle, on the beautiful MacKenzie River, and is known as the Sahtu area of the Northwest Territories. The population of the settlement is approximately 515 people, consisting almost entirely of Dene Indians and Metis. The community is accessible by air from Inuvik and Norman Wells year round and bulk supplies and food are barged in during the summer months. In the winter an ice road connects Fort Good Hope to communities on the MacKenzie Highway system. The main economic components of the community are hunting, trapping and guiding. There also oil, natural gas and mineral explorations carried out in the area, including the MacKenzie Valley Gas Pipeline project. There has been some major capital projects carried out in recent years, including a new school, a senior centre, a community complex, plus a housing complex of approximately 35 units. Established in 1805, Fort Good Hope is the oldest settlement in the lower MacKenzie River Valley, however it was moved and rebuilt several times until 1839 when the present location was created.