Hopedale was founded as an Inuit settlement named Agvituk, Inuktitut for "place of the whales".

[8] It is currently run by the Agvituk Historical Society as a part of a museum on the history of missionaries in the area.

[12] The land claim cedes limited self-rule for the Nunatsiavut government in Northern Labrador and North-Eastern Quebec, granting title and aboriginal rights.

[12] The land that comprises the Nunatsiavut government is called the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, or LISA, which amount to approximately 72,500 km2 (28,000 sq mi).

The Agreement also provides for the establishment of the Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve, consisting of about 9,600 square kilometres (3,700 sq mi) of land within LISA.

Between mid-June and mid-November (pending ice conditions), the ferry MV Kamutik W, operated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Government, provides weekly service[22] from Goose Bay along the Atlantic Coast, with stops in Rigolet, Makkovik, Postville, Hopedale, Nain, and Natuashish.

Local land based transportation in the community is made by private vehicles (cars, trucks, ATV) and snowmobile in winter.

The clinic is operated by Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and is staffed by three nurses/nurse practitioners.

[25] Advanced care requires patients to be flown out of town by air ambulance to the nearest hospital, which is in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.