Nominee program reopens in NWT after six-month pause

The Northwest Territories Nominee Program reopened with fresh guidelines and a lower intake on Thursday after a six-month shutdown.

The program, known as NTNP, provides an immigration pathway for foreign workers to apply for Canadian permanent residency.

Last month, the federal government announced a 50-percent cut in allotment for every province and territory that uses the program. For NTNP, that meant the federal cap was reduced from 300 to 150.

The territorial government was forced to scrap its planned January reopening of NTNP at the last minute to reassess the program’s guidelines in the wake of that federal decision.

Last week, the GNWT announced new eligibility criteria that appeared to be altered significantly, including a decision to select applications at random once a week-long window closes rather than on a first-come, first-served basis.

Some people involved in the process had said a first-come, first-served approach created unnecessary anxiety. The new one-week window in which to submit applications closes at 5pm MT on March 6.

On top of that, the territory said 60 of the 150 expected slots were already occupied by applicants who filed in 2024 as the NWT hit that year’s 300-person cap, and whose applications would now be prioritized in this window.

Random selection for assessment will begin on March 10 after pre-screening of all submitted applications.

Planning for 2026

With only 90 spaces left for the year, MLAs this week asked minister responsible Caitlin Cleveland about the program and its future.

“I don’t think anybody across the country expected their allocations to be cut in half,” Cleveland told Great Slave MLA Kate Reid, who asked on Tuesday how the territory planned to meet its business targets under the current cuts. 

“We will certainly have to pivot to ensure that we remain in line with the guidelines afforded to us by the federal government,” the minister added.

Cleveland said conversations with the federal government about returning to a higher immigration figure had not been successful, which she said was the experience of other jurisdictions, too.

After this year’s allocation is completed, she said staff will work to develop a plan for the future – given there’s no guarantee anything will change in 2026 – by being “as strategic as possible.”

“What do we do if we are yet again in a position where we only have 150 allocations?” Cleveland asked.

“We know that there’s far more demand, and we want to ensure that benefit retention for the Northwest Territories is certainly paramount in this conversation – along with ensuring that we are serving all northerners that live here.”

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart questioned the department’s decision to carry over 60 applications from 2024 into 2025 instead of basing intake on “fairness and equity” for all applicants.

Cleveland said that was a commitment to applicants who applied before the program was paused last July. She noted that some people who spent time, money and effort trying to set up lives in the country will end up disappointed, regardless of how the program rolls out, given there are too few places to meet demand.

“There are always going to be people that are disappointed and incredibly emotional about this. There are people who are in situations where they’re looking for certainty as far as family reunification,” she said.

“At the end of the day we’re certainly not talking about numbers, we’re talking about people. And this is very, very difficult knowing that we, at the end of the day, are not able to make everyone happy with this program.”

Testart asked if people whose applications aren’t accepted this year would have theirs held over into 2026, in similar fashion.

Cleveland said it was too early to make commitments for 2026 considering rapid changes occurring in immigration policy nationwide. She said as far as the NWT’s allocation numbers are concerned, her department is “at the mercy of the decisions of the federal government.”

‘Lottery’ questioned

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins inquired about efforts the GNWT had taken to generate action from the federal government.

Cleveland said correspondence Ottawa occurred through letters and phone calls. She said the GNWT also met with business groups, companies and residents.

“Our commitment was to relaunch the program after hearing from them. So we listened to them. We took into account their perspectives and relaunched the program,” she said.

Hawkins questioned the “lottery concept” the department is expected to follow if numbers go beyond the intake cap. Cleveland reiterated that there was “absolutely no way” the department could have designed a program that would satisfy everybody.

The minister said she felt empathetic toward applicants and wanted to ensure the process was fair to those involved, whereas she believed a first-come, first-served process might simply have rewarded people with “the fastest internet.”

“Having a more randomized approach meant that if somebody met the criteria and they met the deadline, it did not hinge on them having the fastest internet or the most friends that could submit applications at the end of the day,” she said.