What effect is the Tłı̨chǫ Highway having on Whatì and Behchokǫ̀?

A working group has released its first report examining the socio-economic impacts of the Tłı̨chǫ Highway on Whatì and Behchokǫ̀.

The Tłı̨chǫ Highway, also known as Highway 9, opened to traffic at the end of November 2021, connecting Whatì to the NWT’s highway system year round.

Residents and politicians said at the time the road was expected to support economic development in the region, lower prices for goods and services and make it easier to travel.

Some community members expressed concern about safety on the highway and increased access to drugs and alcohol.

Before the highway opened, the NWT government committed to working with local governments to monitor its impact on residents’ health and well-being for at least 10 years.

As a result, the Tłı̨chǫ Highway Socio-Economic Working Group was established in 2019. The group includes representatives from the community governments of Whatì and Behchokǫ̀, as well as the Tłı̨chǫ and NWT governments.

Earlier this month, the group released its first progress report in the form of posters highlighting statistics and programming in six key areas: child and family services, community safety, cultural well-being, early childhood education and student support, economic well-being, and health and well-being.

Some of the report focuses on data before the highway opened in late 2021. That includes the proportion of residents who felt safe in their homes or walking alone in their communities in 2019, as well as the proportion of community residents that participated in hunting, fishing and trapping in 2018 and spoke Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì in 2019.

The report found the number of families that earned $75,000 or more increased in Whatì from 43 percent in 2020 to 57 percent in 2021 and in Behchokǫ̀ from 40 percent in 2020 to 59 percent in 2021.

The number of people considered low-income, meanwhile, decreased in Whatì from 26 percent in 2019 to 21 percent in 2021 and in Behchokǫ̀ from 33 percent in 2019 to 23 percent in 2021.

The report found the employment rate for the population over 15 years old declined from 44 percent in 2016 to 40 percent in 2021 in Whatì and increased from 36 percent to 41 percent over the same period in Behchokǫ̀. The report suggests those changes may be due to increased work opportunities related to highway construction, or job loss related to Covid-19.

The report also includes data from the period after the highway opened. That data was presented with a note about the context: the highway opened during the Covid-19 pandemic and the area was affected by wildfire evacuations in 2023.

The report indicates, for example, that the number of annual traffic incidents has fluctuated in both Whatì and Behchokǫ̀ between 2008 and 2023.

Regarding crime in the communities, the report states the number of criminal incidents decreased in Whatì from 956 in 2022 to 659 in 2023 and increased in Behchokǫ̀ from 2,383 in 2022 to 2,506 in 2023.

According to the report, hospitalizations related to drug and alcohol use declined 27 percent in Whatì and 30 percent in Behchokǫ̀ between 2020-21 and 2021-22. During that same period, emergency department visits decreased five percent in Behchokǫ̀ and increased eight percent in Whatì.

As of August 2024, the report states there were 61 early childhood education spaces in Behchokǫ̀ and 30 in Whatì, numbers that have remained unchanged since 2019-20. Student financial assistance for travel in Behchokǫ̀ decreased from 13 applicants in 2022-23 to 11 in 2023-24.

In 2023, Behchokǫ̀ and Whatì both saw an increase in income assistance recipients, which the report said could be related to the search for funds as Covid-19 supports ended.