Inclusion NWT says it could fold if funding is not increased

Inclusion NWT says its funding from the territorial government hasn’t changed since 2018 and, without an increase to 2026 dollars soon, the nonprofit is at risk of shutting down.

The association has provided support since 1962 for residents of the territory with disabilities and their families.

“Either we can become sustainable or we can no longer deliver programs, and we have to adjust our model and potentially fold as an organization,” Inclusion NWT president Ben Russo told MLAs on Wednesday.

Russo told members of the Standing Committee on Social Development that Inclusion NWT’s funding level does not reflect the increased cost of living nor its ageing clientele and their increasing needs. He said contracts are not following a GNWT policy that directs contract negotiations to consider increases for inflation.

“We have been dealing with contracts and contribution agreements that, despite being annual or having annual reporting requirements, they have not changed in numbers,” said Russo.

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said Russo’s concerns were “an issue many non-government service providers are experiencing.”

Russo said Inclusion NWT sent a letter to ministers on April 7 requesting a funding increase. Following the letter, Russo said the organization met with employment minister Caitlin Cleveland, some MLAs and Katherine Robinson, the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs’ senior advisor for NGO relations.

“We are not getting the support that we’d like,” said Lynn Foley, Inclusion NWT’s executive director.

“We are not having the conversations we’d like to have. I’m not going to say that we’re being ignored, but I think there are so many challenges within that system already that we’re not able to find out who can we talk to.”

Level of care funding

Past president Catherine Fairbairn said Inclusion NWT particularly needs more funding for its supported living program, a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week care program that allows people with disabilities to live independently. She said the program is operating “internally at a loss.”

“We’re subsidizing that program with other funds that we have, other donations, and that’s not sustainable for us,” said Fairbairn.

Inclusion NWT hired Janet Toner to perform an operational review of the organization. She said Inclusion NWT’s strong cash position, strong working capital, surpluses and good standing with the Canada Revenue Agency and federal government may contribute to it being missed for funding opportunities.

Toner found the supported living program is still being given $1,926,108 annually in funding, a number unchanged since the 2018-19 fiscal year. If the amount had been adjusted based on inflation, the organization would be receiving $2.4 million.

While the supported living program is funded through a contract with the NWT Health and Social Services Authority, Inclusion NWT’s other programs – a skills training and supported employment program, and a respite program – are funded through contribution agreements from the health authority and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

The skills training and supported employment program receives $501,000 from the GNWT. Its only increase since 2023 was $11,000.

“It does seem that a big part of the problem here is that the government has been funding this as if it’s a nice-to-have extra thing,” said Shauna Morgan, MLA for Yellowknife North.

“But I think it is clear that the services you’re providing are things that are part of our core responsibility to offer in society, and do fit with the government’s own mandate of what the government wants to be done.”

“There’s a very big disconnect,” said Russo, “between what the government knows – or what they think they know – about what we’re providing, who we’re providing it to, how much it’s costing, how much we need to make it work, and the actual people making the decisions about the funding.”

Long waitlists

Aside from funding, the largest issue for Inclusion NWT’s programs – particularly the respite program – is the waitlists.

“We have been an organization that has tried our hardest to never say no to anyone. We are saying no due to funding and waitlists,” said Russo.

The respite program currently serves 40 families because of a one-time funding increase, but at the time of the operational review in December 2025, it served 26 families. Thirty-five families are on the waitlist for this service.

Twenty-three clients are in the skills training and supported employment program, with four people on the waitlist according to the December 2025 review. The supported living program served 15 clients and had seven people on the waitlist.

“Inclusion NWT has been doing work well beyond what they’re being supported with financially,” said Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre.

Limited resources mean services are offered mostly in Yellowknife with some remote support to communities if requested, Inclusion NWT representatives said.

Executive director Foley said the supported living program has clients from Behchokǫ̀, Délı̨nę, Fort Providence, Łútsël K’é, Norman Wells and Tuktoyaktuk, but they are living in Yellowknife.

A 2023 GNWT review into supported living services found that 124 of 182 clients at the time were accessing services in places out of the territory “due to reported limited capacity of in-territory [supported living] services.”

“If GNWT is spending money to support people either way, I think there’s a massive advantage to having that money spent in the territory and having those people stay in the territory,” said Julian Morse, MLA for Frame Lake.

Past president Fairbairn said finances aren’t the only obstacle. Staffing is also a challenge, she said, but she doesn’t believe they’re “even at that conversation level yet.”

“Long term, I think we could support almost anyone in the North if we had the right resources,” Fairbairn said.