Tucked into the boreal forest of northwest Saskatchewan, La Loche sits on the eastern shore of Lac La Loche at the end of Highway 155. The community falls within the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District and recorded a population of 2,827 in the 2016 census. The Denesuline language is spoken by 89 percent of residents, making La Loche one of the most significant centres for that language in the country. Together with the neighbouring Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) to the north, reached via Highway 955, the combined population centre of 3,649 people accounts for roughly 30 percent of all Denesuline speakers in Canada. The CRDN itself has a population of 822 people.
The Area and Surrounding Communities
To the south of Lac La Loche lies the northern hamlet of Black Point, accessible from Garson Lake Road Highway 956. That road terminates at Garson Lake, from which a winter road is constructed each year connecting the region to Fort McMurray, Alberta. At the northern end of the lake sits the Methye Portage, also known as Portage La Loche — a 19-kilometre overland route connecting the lake to the Clearwater River. For more than a century during the North American fur trade, this portage carried brigades travelling between the south, including the Portage La Loche Brigade from Fort Garry, and northern groups arriving from the Athabasca and Mackenzie regions. The brigades would meet annually at Rendezvous Lake along the portage to exchange trade goods for furs, which were then transported to York Factory on Hudson Bay for shipment to England. The Methye Portage is now part of Clearwater River Provincial Park and carries designation as a National Historic Site. The Clearwater River itself is a Canadian Heritage River.
History and Settlement
The history of European presence on Lac La Loche stretches back to 1778, when explorer Peter Pond passed through the Methye Portage. Fur trade posts followed quickly, with the North West Company establishing operations beginning around 1780 and the Hudson’s Bay Company arriving in 1819. A permanent trading post was built at the south end of the portage in 1857, later moving to nearby West La Loche in the 1870s before being destroyed by fire in 1936. The HBC then relocated across the lake to La Loche, occupying the former Revillon Frères buildings, which had been operating in the community since 1906. The HBC held those northern stores until 1987. Missionary activity in the area began in 1845, and by 1860 the La Loche Mission of Notre Dame de la Visitation had been formally established. Father Jean-Marie Pénard, who served as the first resident priest from 1895 to 1917, noted a mission population of around 100 people in 1895.