Yellowknife recreation facilities to be renamed in Naka Power deal

The City of Yellowknife says it’s finalizing a deal with Naka Power Utilities over “long-term sponsorship” of some municipal recreation facilities.

A ceremony to announce the prospective agreement was held at the city’s aquatic centre on Wednesday afternoon.

Various city facilities are set to be renamed once a deal is complete, which the city expects to be in early 2026.

The Naka Community District will encompass the newly built aquatic centre – to be known as the Atco Aquatic Centre – alongside the nearby tennis courts, community arena, curling club and old swimming pool, which is set to be repurposed, though its new use remains to be confirmed.

The city’s mayor, Ben Hendriksen, declined to state the value of the agreement on the grounds that some aspects of the talks are ongoing.

City Hall has spent the past year trying to put this kind of sponsorship deal in place for the aquatic centre and other facilities.

“Facilities like the aquatic centre do present a tremendous opportunity to try to obtain some kind of offset, to the benefit of Yellowknife ratepayers,” city manager Stephen Van Dine said late last year, when the city established a policy to govern naming rights for its buildings. (Some facilities, like City Hall itself and the dump, are not available for naming.)

Naka Power is Yellowknife’s power distributor. A subsidiary of Atco, it was formerly known as Northland Utilities before being renamed to better reflect its part-Indigenous ownership.

Cathy MacDonald, Naka Power Utilities’ newly appointed chief executive officer, said the soon-to-be Naka Community District “represents the heart of community here in Yellowknife – it’s a hub, a place where families, youth and Elders come together to play, to connect and to thrive.”

How Naka’s sponsorship will ultimately affect the city’s bottom line and the experience of ordinary residents isn’t yet clear.

Asked if the deal would mean, for example, changes to user fees at some facilities or if it would be used to help keep property taxes down, Hendriksen said he would be “glad to come back and talk about the specifics of that once everything is finalized and announced.”

“We’re working as a city to get as much value for money for Yellowknifers. That’s the important thing right now,” the mayor said.

He declined to answer whether the city is actively engaged in talks with any potential sponsors regarding other facilities.