Before Saskatchewan became a Province in 1905, it was part of the area known as the North West Territories which covered all that portion of land lying between Manitoba to the east, British Columbia to the west and from the International Boundary between Canada and the United States north to the Arctic Ocean.
Up to the year 1905, the North West Territories was under the administrative control of the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and a Council of eleven members appointed by the Dominion Government. This Territorial Council acted under the authority of the North West Territories Act of 1875, and was empowered to pass legislation to provide for the governing of this vast area. When the Province of Saskatchewan was established in 1905, all municipal affairs came under the supervision of the Territorial Department of Public Works.
By the year 1908, the Saskatchewan Legislature had adopted legislation to provide for the formation, operation and control of the local government units we have today -that of city, town, village and rural municipality. Before that, the rural area was divided into Local Improvement Districts; the size and shape of which was variable as natural boundaries such as creeks, hills and rivers were used, but most of them were of the nine township square size. These Local Improvement Districts were administered by elected representatives of the people who lived in each district. By March 21, 1907 rural local government assumed legal form and status.
