The election came about after The Northwest Territories Act was amended to permit three elected members from the Mackenzie District to join the five appointed members on the Executive Council of the Northwest Territories.
The Council, which had met in Ottawa, Ontario, outside of the Northwest Territories, shortly after the election, the council began to alternate sittings between Ottawa and Northwest Territories communities.
Female suffrage was permitted under the Northwest Territories Elections Ordinance of 1951, this was the last jurisdiction in Canada to grant voting rights to women.
The first woman candidate in the territory's history also ran in this election: Vivian Roberts from Aklavik.
Note: 1 Frank Cunningham was also Deputy Commissioner For complete electoral history, see individual districts