NWT education staffing drops amid Jordan’s Principle funding upheaval

The number of NWT support assistants funded by Jordan’s Principle or the Inuit Child First Initiative dropped by 68 between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, the territory says.

Territorial deputy minister of education Shannon Barnett-Aikman presented the figure – a drop of about a third from 205 to 137 positions – during a Thursday public briefing on education staffing changes and trends.

She also reported a loss of 64 educators for junior kindergarten to Grade 12 between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. Over that period, the number of educators across the territory fell from 1,428 to 1,364.

Barnett-Aikman said the reduction in staffing numbers did not indicate a drop in territorial funding. She said funding provided by the territory grew by $55.8 million over the past three years.

The figures were reported on the same day federal finance minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the national budget.

Budget 2026 proposes $6 billion over six years, starting in 2026-27, for Jordan’s Principle and $575 million over five years to renew the Inuit Child First Initiative.

However, Indigenous Services Canada’s internal case management records show Jordan’s Principle cost $1.64 billion in 2024-25 alone, as reported by APTN.

NWT education bodies have faced a significant funding shortfall since the federal government changed Jordan’s Principle’s parameters in early 2025 to largely exclude off-reserve schools. 

On Thursday, education minister Caitlin Cleveland reiterated that some education bodies in the NWT did still collectively receive $37 million through Jordan’s Principle in the 2025-26 academic year.

After implementing a temporary $14-million fund for educational assistants in 2025, the territory committed $33 million for inclusive schooling in its own budget earlier this year.

Barnett-Aikman said her department heard from education bodies that this funding helped provide some stability and helped maintain or restore front-line support for things like speech, language, behaviour and mental health supports.

She said the YK1 school district, for example, had reported being able to rehire 50 support assistants.

‘We’ve done our part’

Taking questions from a committee of regular MLAs at the public briefing, Cleveland said she has been advocating for a commitment of Jordan’s Principle funding from the federal government and consistency in that funding.

“We’ve had to stand up our own dollars – as debt to this territory – because we can’t afford to do nothing. We can’t afford to lose the momentum that was created by Jordan’s Principle funding,” said Cleveland.

“What we’re saying to the federal government is we’ve done our part. We need you to bring certainty and transparency to the table, so we do know there’s still funding from Jordan’s Principle flowing into the territory.”

She said education bodies still lack clarity on what qualifies for funding through the initiative.

Speaking in the legislature following the release of the federal budget on Thursday, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart asked Cleveland if the territory can rely on Jordan’s Principle or if it will have to use its own funding to make up future shortfalls.

“My intention is to continue working with the federal government to bring more consistency and clarity to how those applications work within our communities in the Northwest Territories,” said Cleveland in response.

“There needs to be clarity and consistency because [it needs] to be accessible for education bodies, for community members, for the children who need these dollars.

“At the same time, we will continue to improve our education system and continue to fund it as we have.”