MLAs want “tangible” action to help internationally educated nurses find work in the NWT, but territorial officials say they are still gathering data on how many such nurses live here and what barriers they face.
A working group has been studying the issue since earlier this year.
Last week, the Joint Territorial Nursing Council – comprising nursing leaders from the GNWT, Aurora College and nursing regulator CANNN – told MLAs it launched a survey in the spring to understand the scope of the problem.
Results are expected in early 2026.
Internationally educated nurses, or IENs, are trained outside Canada and must meet specific requirements before they can work here. Last year, Cabin Radio reported on an IEN living in Yellowknife who was told she had to leave the territory to gain practice hours, even though she held licences in two other provinces.
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The rules were updated earlier this year. IENs now need either 1,125 practice hours in the past five years or 450 hours in the past two years. They can also complete a competency assessment through a private company named Inspire Global Assessments.
CANNN – the College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut – told MLAs last week that registrations have increased since the changes. However, only two nurses have used the Inspire pathway so far.
The NWT’s deputy minister of health and social services, Alan Doody, acknowledged there are IENs in the territory who want to work but cannot.
“This is an important conversation about workforce sustainability and ensuring safe, quality care for residents,” he told MLAs.
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The NWT’s chief nursing officer, Sheena Wasiuta, outlined steps other jurisdictions have taken like streamlined application processes and long-term orientation support.
But the territory lacks the resources to replicate those programs, she said, and instead – with ongoing staffing shortages and fiscal pressures – the NWT must focus on “keeping doors open and lights on.”
A program for IENs to gain clinical hours locally under the supervision of existing nurses, rather than being sent elsewhere, would require major funding, new positions and specialized training the system does not have, Wasiuta said.
Adding IENs to the training workload would stretch an already burned-out nursing workforce, she added.
‘All options being considered’
MLAs pressed for faster action.
Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely asked whether legislative changes were needed. Doody said none have been identified yet.
Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya asked about cultural safety standards. Doody said no formal standards exist, though training has been developed with Indigenous governments.
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart pushed for the territory to consider expedited licensing pathways used in Alberta and Ontario, which he said could make it easier to recruit nurses from countries like the Philippines and India.
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Doody said regulatory decisions rest with CANNN but “all options are being considered.” Clearer direction is expected within three months.
Testart said the government should consider bursaries to help IENs cover assessment costs, as other jurisdictions do.
“When you come back in 2026, we need to see something tangible,” Testart said. “Not more, like, ‘We took a look at it, it’s complicated, there’s still more work to be done.’”
Wasiuta said she has been in discussions with counterparts in Yukon and Nunavut about how smaller jurisdictions can work together on the issue.
Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan questioned whether the time spent training temporary agency nurses, who leave after short contracts, could be better spent on IENs who would stay.
Wasiuta said the working group is examining that kind of trade-off, among other issues.
“We want to ensure whatever resources we dedicate to this make sense for the volume,” she said.
