| Fort Liard | |
| Native Name: | Echaot'l Koe or Acho Dene Kue |
| Settlement Type: | Hamlet |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Northwest Territories#Canada |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Territory |
| Subdivision Name1: | Northwest Territories |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Dehcho Region |
| Subdivision Type3: | Constituency |
| Subdivision Name3: | Nahendeh |
| Subdivision Type4: | Census division |
| Subdivision Name4: | Region 4 |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Genevieve McLeod |
| Leader Title1: | Senior Administrative Officer |
| Leader Name1: | John McKee |
| Leader Title2: | MLA |
| Leader Name2: | Shane Thompson |
| Established Title: | Incorporated (hamlet) |
| Established Date: | 1 April 1987 |
| Area Land Km2: | 67.61 |
| Elevation M: | 216 |
| Coordinates: | 60.2392°N -123.4753°W |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 468 |
| Population Density Km2: | 6.9 |
| Timezone: | MST |
| Utc Offset: | −07:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | MDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −06:00 |
| Postal Code Type: | Canadian Postal code |
| Postal Code: | X0G 0A0 |
| Area Code: | 867 |
| Blank Name: | Telephone exchange |
| Blank Info: | 770 |
| Blank2 Name: | Prices |
| Blank3 Name: | – Living cost (2018) |
| Blank3 Info: | 132.5 |
| Blank4 Name: | – Food price index (2019) |
| Blank4 Info: | 145.4 |
| Website: | www.fortliard.com |
| Footnotes: | Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[1] Canada Flight Supplement 2018 figure based on Edmonton = 100[2] 2019 figure based on Yellowknife = 100 |
Fort Liard (Slavey language: Echaot'l Koe "people from the land of the giants" or Acho Dene Kue) is a hamlet in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located north of the British Columbia border. It became accessible by road in 1984 with the completion of the Liard Highway (Northwest Territories Highway 7 and British Columbia Highway 77).
The Hamlet of Fort Liard is served by two general merchandise stores: The General Store and The North West Company store. The K-12 community school, "Echo Dene School", has a student population of about 150. It also has a community health centre with four nurses, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment with four members, and a recreation centre, including a swimming pool, skating rink, youth centre and multi-court.[3] There is a fuel centre that sells gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, emergency survival kits and convenience items. There is also a traditional craft store which sells locally made craft items.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort Liard had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 67.61km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[4]
In the 2016 Census the majority of the population, 445 people out of a total of 500, were Indigenous, either First Nations or Métis.
The Dene of the community are represented by the Acho Dene Koe Band and the Métis by Fort Liard Metis Local 67. Both groups belong to the Deh Cho First Nations Tribal Council.[5] [6]
Fort Liard has a borderline subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc), just short of a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), characterized by extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. Temperatures can be warm in the summer, and cold in the winter.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Liard was on 13 July 2014 and 27 June 2021.[7] [8] [9] The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 15 January 1974.