Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart says decisions by the NWT government are doing as much damage to Yellowknife schools’ budgets as federal Jordan’s Principle cuts.
Since February last year, changes to Jordan’s Principle – a federal program that helps pay for programs and services used by First Nations children – have cut off tens of millions of dollars in NWT education funding, though some schools are reportedly still able to access some cash.
In the legislature this week, Testart said the way the GNWT determines funding for schools is also causing problems and Yellowknife families are “paying the price for shortfalls.”
“Jordan’s Principle may have covered speech language pathology, mental health supports and cultural programming, but it never covered the millions in funding shortfalls for substitute staffing, school busing, human resources, technology, and operations and maintenance – funding gaps that have been raised in this House for decades,” Testart said.
“Those gaps have nothing to do with Ottawa’s cuts. They have everything to do with this minister’s continued inaction.”
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The GNWT determines funding for schools through a framework based on factors including student enrolment, location and inflation.
Education bodies then determine how to spend the funding on things like staff salaries, supplies, programs and supports for students.
YK school boards say costs outpace funding
Representatives of two Yellowknife school boards – Yellowknife Education District No 1 and Yellowknife Catholic Schools – discussed concerns with the territorial funding model in June, telling city councillors the model has not kept pace with actual costs.
Both school boards said that even after making around $1 million in cuts each, they needed a 14-percent increase in school tax revenue to cover funding gaps.
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According to the city, that would have amounted to the average residential taxpayer contributing an extra $368.
After further changes, the school boards ultimately increased school tax revenue the city collects by 0.21 percent but said they still had “serious concerns” about the territory’s funding model.
The Yellowknife school boards are the only education bodies in the NWT that rely on municipally collected tax revenue, which is expected to cover at least 25 percent of the cost of delivering elementary school programs.
As a result, the territorial government reduces the funding it provides to those school boards by around 20 percent.
In the legislature, Testart criticized that method.
He said the GNWT’s funding formula doesn’t help Yellowknife schools cope with inflation as much as it helps schools elsewhere, and instead the territory is relying on the city’s taxpayers by passing on funding gaps to them.
He called on the territory to change that approach by placing a cap on how much school tax Yellowknife residents have to pay.
Formula aims for fairness, minister says
Beyond Yellowknife, the GNWT collects education-related taxes and directly provides all funding to education bodies.
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Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik and Norman Wells are able to set their own general mill rates for those taxes, which determine how the tax burden is distributed among residents.
Education minister Caitlin Cleveland told Testart the objective of the school funding framework is fairness, and her department works with education leaders to determine areas for improvement.
“Throughout this term, I’ve treated the school funding formula as a living formula to make sure that we’re not waiting until some magical date when the formula is completely redone – that we’re continuing to make progressive improvements to that formula,” she said.
Cleveland added she is working on amendments to “make sure that we maintain the buying power of our school funding formula.”
The territory says it distributed $182.3 million between 10 education bodies in 2025-26, around $55.4 million of which went to the two Yellowknife school boards.
The 2026-27 budget included nearly $182.9 million for education bodies, with $55.9 million going to the Yellowknife school boards.
