NWT launches review of multi-sport games amid funding crunch

The territorial government is embarking on a review of multi-sport games in the NWT, Maca deputy minister Gary Brennan told community leaders on Friday.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is grappling with shrinking lottery revenue and growing frustration over how trials and teams are managed.

Brennan said the review will cover all multi-sport games – not just the Arctic Winter Games – and examine trial formats, eligibility requirements, age limits and whether the territory’s approach to competitive sport is sustainable.

“We know there’s challenges with the recent trials that have been identified,” Brennan told delegates at the NWT Association of Communities’ annual meeting in Yellowknife. “We’re hoping to come up with a plan how we can make sure that the games are meeting the needs of our residents.”

The review comes after months of tension over the territorial government’s decision to centralize Arctic Winter Games trials in Yellowknife, cutting smaller communities out of the process to save money.

The Town of Hay River submitted a resolution to the NWTAC calling on the GNWT to return to regional hosting for trials. Hay River deputy mayor Keith Dohey has said centralized trials create barriers for athletes in smaller communities and unfairly advantage Yellowknife competitors.

Brennan acknowledged the resolution and said communities would be consulted. He said one option being considered is giving territorial sport organizations a set amount of funding and letting them run their own trials.

Communities minister Vince McKay, who is from Hay River, said he shares some of the concerns raised. “There is opportunity, I think, to make some good changes,” McKay told the meeting.

Just under 360 participants from the NWT are expected to attend the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse later this month, Brennan said.

“One of the things that we have to do is figure out a path to sustain the games,” he added, “because the costs are increasing, the funding is decreasing, and those two things don’t jive in the long term.”

Brennan said Maca will also continue to pursue changes related to eligibility, gender equity and safety at multi-sport games.

“That’s a key item that we’re going to be holding all territorial sport organizations to going forward,” he said of safe sport requirements.

“That’s going to be a challenge for some of the smaller TSOs, for sure, but it’s something we’re not going to bend on. We want to make sure our kids are taken care of in these games.”

System under strain

Brennan provided an update on the territory’s exploration of a bid to host the 2035 Canada Winter Games, saying a committee has visited communities including Hay River and Behchokǫ̀. If hosted, the games would be centred in Yellowknife with other communities involved.

He said the 2023 edition in Prince Edward Island cost $33 million in operations and $14 million in capital, compared to economic impacts that he said exceeded $200 million. (Those figures could not be immediately verified. Pre-Games estimates by organizers had pegged the economic impact at more than $100 million.)

The territorial government announced a feasibility study in December. No decision has been made – Brennan said the GNWT expects to confirm whether it will support a bid by June.

The backdrop to both the review and the Canada Winter Games discussion is a sports funding system under strain.

The NWT funds much of its amateur sport through the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund, which draws revenue from lottery ticket sales. Those sales have been declining, in part because unregulated online gaming is capturing a share of the market.

The territorial government has earmarked $2.8 million a year for three years in its 2026-27 budget to stabilize sports and recreation funding and conduct its review. That money has not yet been approved – the budget vote is expected this week.

Resolution passes

Hay River’s resolution requesting the reinstatement of regional Arctic Winter Games trials was passed by delegates at the NWTAC annual meeting on Saturday.

Though the resolution does not bind the territorial government, it acts as a formal request from the collective body of NWT community leaders.

“I’m excited about this one because I think it’ll help for stronger representation from our territory versus just from our capital,” said Inuvik town councillor Melinda Gillis.

“It’s not about building national athletes. It’s about building the connections that we build at these tables at a young age,” she told fellow delegates, “so that when they get to these tables, they’re connected to people within our territory.”

Miriam Bosiljevac contributed reporting.