Premier hails ‘historic day’ as budget funds Mackenzie Valley Highway

The NWT’s premier says Ottawa’s Thursday promise to fully fund the Mackenzie Valley Highway marked “a historic day for the Northwest Territories.”

The territory had been seeking that kind of funding for decades.

If it passes, NWT-born Prime Minister Mark Carney’s second budget will deliver $3.1 billion to build the highway – from Wrigley to Inuvik – over five years.

“Getting a project of this scale right means working in partnership with Indigenous governments from the outset. The budget recognizes the importance of Indigenous input,” Premier RJ Simpson added in a late Thursday statement.

“We are ready to work with Canada and Indigenous governments to turn this commitment into lasting benefits for Northerners.”

With Carney now possessing a majority, the budget is highly likely to pass without any adjustment to the Mackenzie Valley Highway commitment.

The budget also pledges cash to set up a “management entity” that will help the NWT complete projects like the Mackenzie Valley Highway and Taltson hydro expansion.

The details of that entity remain unclear. Its creation is an “opportunity to bring the expertise, coordination and long-term focus needed to advance complex projects,” NWT major projects minister Caroline Wawzonek stated.

Both Simpson and Wawzonek used Thursday evening’s statement to acknowledge some significant northern asks were missing from the federal budget.

Simpson noted Jordan’s Principle funding was renewed but the budget did not announce “the changes needed to address the barriers facing NWT schools and education bodies.”

Those schools have been largely cut off from Jordan’s Principle since changes in early 2025 that prioritized funding for schools on reserve. Only one of the nearly 50 schools in the NWT meets that criterion.

Wawzonek said the NWT will “keep making the case” for a dedicated northern mineral exploration tax credit and the addition of zinc to an existing tax credit, neither of which was adopted by the federal government in its budget.