The Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD)

The Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD) is northern Saskatchewan as an entire physical area and includes: incorporated municipalities, designated park land, First Nation reserves, and all other unorganized areas. The NSAD is legally described in section 74 of The Northern Municipalities Regulations.

Municipalities in the NSAD:
There are 25 incorporated municipalities in the NSAD:
  • 2 Towns
  • 11 Northern Villages
  • 11 Northern Hamlets
  • The District - a single municipality that covers the unorganized area of northern Saskatchewan.  The District can be thought of like a northern rural municipality (RM).  Unorganized means all areas outside of incorporated municipalities and designated Park land.

Location and description of towns, northern villages, northern hamlets and District communities:

​Other Jurisdictions in the NSAD:

The District

The District is a single incorporated municipality in the NSAD.  The District can be thought of like a ‘northern RM’ where the District includes all of the unorganized area in the NSAD and excludes incorporated municipalities (towns, northern villages and northern hamlets) and designated Park land in the NSAD.

Most of the land in the District is Crown land.  Northern Municipal Services (NMS) holds the unique responsibility to act as the local government authority for the District.  The District is governed by the Minister of Government Relations who acts as mayor and council for the District as a municipality. Follow this link to see how NMS supports communities in the NSAD and administers the District: Northern Municipal Services Video

The unorganized communities of the District include:

Did You Know?

  • The NSAD designation dates back to The Northern Administration Act, 1948, which provided for northern administration and development.​​
  • The NSAD covers approximately 321,163 square kilometres or 49% of Saskatchewan's area. 
  • Using amended data from the 2016 Census, 37,825 people, or approximately 3.4% of the province's population, live in the NSAD (amended from 37,064), broken down as follows:
    • Northern municipalities: 17,057 (amended from 16,122)
    • The District: 1,115 (Statistics Canada advises using this population count with caution)
    • On-reserve: 19,653  
  • ​The Northern Municipal Trust Account is the special account which provides the funds to administer the District. The Northern Municipal Trust Account Management Board is appointed to make recommendations to the Minister of Government Relations.
  • Statistics Canada refers to the NSAD as "Division No. 18".  Division No. 18 has the same boundary as the NSAD. 
  • Statistics Canada refers to the District as "Division No. 18, Unorganized". 

Population at a Glance (2016 Census)

Towns (2):
​Creighton: 1,429
La Ronge: 2,688

​Northern Villages (11)
Air Ronge: 1,106
Beauval: 640
Buffalo Narrows: 1,110
Cumberland House: 791
Denare Beach: 813
Green Lake: 429
Île-à-la Crosse: 1,296
La Loche: 2,827
Pelican Narrows: 630
Pinehouse: 1,074
​Sandy Bay: 697
Northern Hamlets (11)
Black Point: 43
Cole Bay: 170
Dore Lake: 30
Jans Bay: 152
Michel Village: 86
Patuanak: 73
St. George's Hill: 131
Stony Rapids: 262
Timber Bay: 82
Turnor Lake: 149
Weyakwin: 102

The District (1): 1,115 (the district includes northern settlements, resort subdivisions, cluster subdivisions and all other unorganized areas in the NSAD):

NSAD Boundary Maps

(Check off the "Administrative>NSAD Boundary layer" under the Layers tab.  Best viewed on a desktop.)