Yellowknife’s courthouse was evacuated on Thursday afternoon as police discovered and seized a suspicious package.
RCMP kept the public away from the courthouse and immediate area for several hours.
Little is known about the contents of the package, which police say will now be sent for analysis.
Emergency services on the scene included the Yellowknife Fire Division’s hazmat team, some of whom wore orange full-body protective suits.
RCMP said no injuries were reported. However, people who had “direct or indirect contact” with the package were “being isolated and screened as a precaution”.
Thursday’s incident follows a recent run of similar reports at courthouses across Canada.
Earlier in April, suspicious packages were found in six Manitoba law court buildings.
Two people in Thompson suffered “shortness of breath” in connection to one such incident, although RCMP in the province later said no harmful chemicals or powder had been found in any of the packages.
All six packages appeared to have originated from the same unidentified address in China.
Three days ago, RCMP in Manitoba noted that similar packages had turned up elsewhere in Canada, but did not provide details.
As yet, there is no evidence to suggest Thursday’s events in Yellowknife are linked to any other incident. The investigation is ongoing.
