How the NWT’s new immigration points system actually works

The NWT government has published the scoresheet it will use to give people points when they apply for its main immigration stream.

Announced last week, the introduction of a points system marks a change in the way the territory processes applications for its nominee program – a key means of filling job vacancies and helping foreign workers acquire permanent residency.

The NWT will use its new points system to differentiate between applicants in a year where the 197 places assigned by Ottawa will almost certainly be oversubscribed, as has been the case for each of the past few years.

The points grid published to the NWT’s immigration website provides useful insights into what the territorial government is prioritizing when it assesses foreign workers trying to enter the nominee program.

The top score is 845, though the likelihood of many people getting to 845 is slim.

There are nearly a dozen categories in which you can score points and each is broken down into a range of line items. The maximum you can earn from a single line is 100 points, and that’s available in five places.

You can add 100 points if you:

• have five years’ full time work experience or more in the past 10 years, in a relevant occupation;
• have three years’ full time work experience or more in the NWT in the past 10 years;
• completed post-secondary education in a field related to your chosen occupation;
• completed a post-secondary diploma or higher qualification within the NWT; and/or
• have a nominating occupation of senior management or a job that normally requires a university degree.

Applicants aged 21 to 44 get the most points (50) down to 10 for people aged 50 or over.

If the job for which you’ve been nominated is in an NWT community outside Yellowknife, that gets you a bonus 50 points.

You also get extra points the more proficient you are in English or French, and 25 bonus points for being bilingual.

Having family members already in the NWT who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents is worth a bonus 30 points. Having an employer-specific work permit for an NWT employer is an added 50 points.

Lastly, if you have a job offer from certain trades that the NWT considers useful, you get an extra 40 points. Those are:

• carpenter;
• electrician;
• plumber;
• gas fitter;
• heavy duty equipment mechanic;
• automotive service technician;
• welder;
• industrial mechanic or millwright;
• aircraft maintenance engineer or mechanic;
• pilot; or
• chef.

How other jurisdictions do it

The NWT is not alone in using a points system to rank nominees.

Most Canadian provinces and territories with nominee programs now use some form of expression-of-interest system in which candidates are scored and ranked before being invited to apply.

British Columbia’s system scores candidates out of 200 points, while Saskatchewan’s international skilled worker stream requires a minimum of 60 out of 110.

Alberta introduced a points grid in 2024 after years of processing applications on a first-come, first-served basis, and Manitoba and Ontario use similar scoring systems. The Yukon, like the NWT, moved to a score-based model only recently.

These provincial and territorial points systems are separate from the federal government’s Comprehensive Ranking System, which scores Express Entry candidates out of 1,200 for permanent residency at the national level.

Your points score in the NWT is a first step after you and an employer file an expression of interest. Only the highest-ranking individuals will then be invited to formally apply to the territory’s nominee program.

“The major thing we heard was an ask, whether it was employers or people participating in the program, for transparency and fairness,” said Caitlin Cleveland, the NWT’s minister responsible for immigration, in the legislature on Tuesday.

“We wanted to ensure we were both publishing the different points that they would be graded against – the grid that would be used,” Cleveland said, “and then within five days of them submitting their application, they would get something that would confirm how many points they were allotted, so they could compare and know exactly where they were at.”

The GNWT said its new system will ensure the program remains open year-round with several draws, the first of which is scheduled for March 25.

In the first draw, up to 65 people will be selected. The process will open at 9am on March 9.