Public and private capital spending in the Northwest Territories this year is forecast to reach its highest since 2016, the NWT Bureau of Statistics says.
A national survey suggests intended spending in 2023 on the likes of construction and infrastructure in the NWT equates to a 7.7 percent increase on 2022, reaching just under $950 million.
Most of that comes in the form of public spending – projects led by the likes of federal, territorial and community governments – which is increasing to levels not seen in the territory’s recent history.
“Public investment increased to over $600 million in 2022 and is expected to increase again in 2023,” the NWT Bureau of Statistics stated.
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A nine-percent jump in public spending “can in part be attributed to the construction of a new swimming pool in Yellowknife and increased construction activity at the Giant Mine remediation project,” the bureau added in a press release.
However, private investment is also expected to increase slightly – by around three percent year-on-year – having dropped from more than $1 billion annually to just over $200 million since the Gahcho Kué diamond mine’s construction finished in 2015.
In the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, most capital spending in the NWT came from private sources according to the bureau’s data. Public spending has taken over as the primary source of investment since the pandemic.
