GNWT wants federal immigration cap raised from 300 to 500

The NWT government has asked Ottawa to increase the annual capacity of a key immigration program that helps the territory to grow its population.

In recent years, the NWT has increasingly relied on people coming from other countries to sustain its population.

This year, the territory has reported its largest quarterly international migration figures since modern records began.

For example, the NWT recorded a net gain of 211 people through international migration between January and March 2024. (That figure represents the sum total of all immigrants, emigrants, returning Canadians, non-permanent residents and individuals temporarily abroad.)

Immigration numbers have been so strong that the NWT Nominee Program – which allows people to move to the territory from other countries, ordinarily to take up a job being offered by a northern employer – maxed out for the first time this year.

All 300 annual spaces in the nominee program’s main stream had been filled by the early summer. The application window for that stream won’t reopen until January 2025.

In the legislature on Thursday, employment minister Caitlin Cleveland said the NWT had asked the federal government to lift the cap from 300 to 500 applicants next year.

Cleveland said she expects to hear back by the end of the calendar year.

“Applicants who have not been able to apply because of the pause that was put in place will be able to apply when the program opens up in January of 2025 again,” Cleveland said in response to questions from Great Slave MLA Kate Reid.

The minister said her department’s staff were “doing what they can” to ensure as many employees as possible are on hand to process an “expected increase in applications again in the next calendar year.”

Traditionally, NWT immigration programs were jointly operated by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Cleveland said work to bring all immigration programs under ECE’s remit “is happening” and “will help in the future with staffing capacity,” potentially speeding up the process.

“I hope that I will have good news for this House and that we end up seeing an increase to our allotment for the program,” Cleveland concluded.

Immigration is a major political issue in southern Canada.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has said he would cut the country’s population growth if his party wins power at the next election, tying growth to a level below the rate at which new housing is built.

The Liberal minority government has said it is considering reducing the number of permanent residents allowed into Canada annually, although the published target remains 500,000 for 2025.

Statistically, though, the NWT is not in the same position as most southern provinces.

Over the past decade, even the smallest provinces have grown by tens of thousands of people. Most provinces have grown by hundreds of thousands and Ontario has grown by millions.

The NWT’s population has grown by just 500 people over the same period, even as the Yukon and Nunavut populations grew by 9,000 and 5,000 people respectively, meaning the NWT is alone is adding so few residents in recent years.

“Many newcomers chose to establish themselves in the North rather than down south because we were a rare Canadian jurisdiction that had never reached its annual nominee cap,” Reid told the legislature on Thursday.

“Yes, the perception of immigration across Canada is changing. There are populists in this country who are equating newcomers with housing crises and a cutthroat job market. And it is true that in some southern jurisdictions, unchecked population growth is straining our safety nets.

“Unlike these jurisdictions, the NWT has essentially been in a population standstill for a decade. There might be a day when our welcoming capacity will become compromised and we will have to limit the number of newcomers who we welcome each year, but we are far from that point today.”

Reid argues the nominee program needs to be expanded not least to help the territory fill vacancies in healthcare, an issue that has only worsened in the past few years.

“We need more workers. We need more entrepreneurs. We need more taxpayers and we need increased federal transfers,” Reid said, referring to the sum of money paid by Ottawa to the GNWT for each person who lives in the territory. That transfer payment is a huge source of the territorial government’s annual revenue.

“We can’t afford not to be welcoming,” said Reid. “This means we need more spots in the NWT nominee program.”