Hay River (South Slavey: Xátł’odehchee [xátɬ’otɛhtʃʰe]),[6] known as "the Hub of the North",[9] is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

The town is located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake at the mouth of the Hay River.

This first settlement was established by Chief Chiatlo and a group of people by the building of log cabins and bringing dairy cows.

[9] A school, health centre and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed, and as part of the Canol Road project the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a runway on Vale Island in the Hay River delta.

[9] The settlement's role as terminus of all-season trucking, and the establishment of a commercial fishing industry, started an economic boom.

[12] In 1959, the Northern Transportation Company Limited located their main base in Hay River and over the years developed the facilities.

Today the base is the major staging point for the annual sealift along the Mackenzie River, via Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk and the communities of the Arctic Ocean, as far east as Taloyoak, Nunavut and west to Utqiagvik, Alaska.

In 1978, Hay River, along with the now-abandoned Pine Point, hosted the fifth Arctic Winter Games.

In 2022, the town suffered flooding caused by ice breakup on the Hay River, resulting in an evacuation order for the entire community.

[16][17] Ice jams built up in two channels, and combined with a wide-ranging storm system, and already waterlogged ground resulted in a larger than normal flood.

[19] On 25 August 2023 the entire town population was ordered to evacuate by the government of the Northwest Territories due to the 2023 Canadian wildfires.

The town hosts four schools, three of which are administered by South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC).

[27] The Hay River Community Service Society also controls television broadcasting and it is paid for through property taxes, at a rate of $36 per household per year.

[3] In 2016, the Indigenous population in Hay River is 1,630, up from 1,600 at the 2006 Canadian census, and is made up of First Nations, Métis and Inuit.