| Official Name: | Hopedale |
| Other Name: | Agvituk |
| Nickname: | Place of the Whales |
| Settlement Type: | Inuit community |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1782 |
| Established Title2: | Incorporated |
| Established Date2: | May 12, 1969 |
| Government Type: | Inuit Community Government |
| Leader Title: | Mayor (AngajukKâk) |
| Leader Name: | Marjorie Flowers |
| Leader Title1: | Federal MP |
| Leader Title2: | Provincial MHA |
| Leader Name2: | Lela Evans (PC)[1] |
| Leader Title3: | Nunatsiavut Assembly member |
| Leader Name3: | Terry Vincent (I)[2] |
| Area Land Km2: | 3.35 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 596 |
| Population Density Km2: | 157.9 |
| Utc Offset: | -04:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -03:00 |
| Coordinates: | 55.4608°N -60.2333°W |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Dfc |
Hopedale (Inuit language: Agvituk)[3] is a town located in the north of Labrador, the mainland portion of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hopedale is the legislative capital of the Inuit Land Claims Area Nunatsiavut, and where the Nunatsiavut Assembly meets.[4] [5] [6] As of the 2021 census, it has a population of 596.
Hopedale was founded as an Inuit settlement named Agvituk, Inuktitut for "place of the whales". In 1782, Moravian missionaries from Germany arrived in the area to convert the population. They renamed the settlement Hopedale (Hoffental in German) shortly afterwards. The Hopedale Mission is still standing and is thought to be the oldest wooden-frame building in Canada standing east of Quebec. As such, it was named a National Historic Site of Canada. It is currently run by the Agvituk Historical Society as a part of a museum on the history of missionaries in the area.
From 1953 to 1968, a joint Royal Canadian Air Force-United States Air Force's Hopedale Air Station was located on the hills above Hopedale. Civilian personnel lived in the main part of town. Since 1968, the area has remained abandoned other than maintenance of non-military communications towers nearby.[7]
On December 1, 2005, Hopedale became the legislative capital[8] of the autonomous region of Nunatsiavut which is the name chosen by the Labrador Inuit when the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act was successfully ratified by the Canadian Government and the Inuit of Labrador.[9] Nain, further north, is the administrative capital.[10] The land claim cedes limited self-rule for the Nunatsiavut government in Northern Labrador and North-Eastern Quebec, granting title and aboriginal rights.[10] The land that comprises the Nunatsiavut government is called the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, or LISA, which amount to approximately 72500km2.[11] The Inuit of Labrador do not own this land per se, but they do have special rights related to traditional land use as aboriginals. That said, the Labrador Inuit will own 15000km2 within the Settlement Area, officially designated as Labrador Inuit Lands. The Agreement also provides for the establishment of the Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve, consisting of about 9600km2 of land within LISA.[11] [12] As legislative capital, Hopedale is the location of the Nunatsiavut Assembly Building.[13]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hopedale had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of .[14] With a land area of 2.18km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[15]
The majority of people in Hopedale (79%) speak English as a first language, but a significant minority (21%) speak Inuktitut.
About 83% of the population identify themselves as Inuit, 16% are of mainly European descent, and 1% are of Punjabi origin.
About 87% of the population belongs to a Protestant denomination, about 2% are Roman Catholic, and another 1% are Sikh. About 10% are not affiliated with any religion.
There are no roads that connect Hopedale with the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador.[16] [17] [18]
Hopedale Airport, a small public airport, connects the area with small communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and connections beyond made via Goose Bay Airport.[19] The airport was built in the mid 1960s to provide air support to former USAF Hopedale Air Station. Since 1968 the airport is used by civilians.
The airport handles only small turboprop aircraft or helicopters. There is only one service building at the airport. The airport is connected to Hopedale via Airstrip Road.
Between mid-June and mid-November (pending ice conditions), the ferry MV Kamutik W, operated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Government, provides weekly service[20] from Goose Bay along the Atlantic Coast, with stops in Rigolet, Makkovik, Postville, Hopedale, Nain, and Natuashish.[21] Small boats are used to access nearby areas by water.
Local land based transportation in the community is made by private vehicles (cars, trucks, ATV) and snowmobile in winter. There are only a few roads in the community, all gravel:
Policing in Hopedale is provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which has a Hopedale Detachment staffed by four officers. The current detachment was completed in 1994.[22]
There is no hospital located in Hopedale and only basic medical services are provided by Hopedale Community Clinic. The clinic is operated by Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and is staffed by three nurses/nurse practitioners. Physicians visit periodically, and are also available by video conference.[23] Advanced care requires patients to be flown out of town by air ambulance to the nearest hospital, which is in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Hopedale Volunteer Fire Department is a small fire and rescue service with a single pumper stored at the fire hall located next to the RCMP detachment near Water Road.
Canada Post has a post office (19 Harbour Drive B) located in town.
Amos Comenius Memorial School at Nanuk Hill, with grades Kindergarten to Grade 12,[24] is the only school in Hopedale.
AngajukKâk are equivalent of mayor in Hopedale and are elected every four years. The incumbent is Marjorie Flowers.[25]
Past AngajukKâk:
There are few local attractions:[27]
Hopedale has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dsc) with a August average of and February average of .