NWT senator launches survey of business sector

Senator Margaret Dawn Anderson is asking for feedback about the Northwest Territories’ economic recovery from northern businesses.

The NWT senator is using an online survey to ask businesses to provide a “snapshot” of their needs as the territory looks to recover from the pandemic’s impact.

Questions look to assess whether businesses have lost employees and the extent to which they have lost revenue.

In particular, Anderson’s survey is designed to discover how businesses evaluate assistance provided by the federal government.

While much scrutiny in the North has been placed on the effectiveness of territorial government intervention, many of the available grants, subsidies, and emergency measures have been introduced and administered by Ottawa.

Anderson’s survey looks at which types of federal support businesses received, but also federal programs to which NWT businesses applied but were not accepted.

The survey asks which reasons were given when businesses were told they did not qualify for programs, which kinds of support were the most helpful, and whether any other types of support could have been provided.

Responses are being accepted until October 30.

The NWT Chamber of Commerce urged members to take part, saying the survey would help Anderson “prepare a complete picture of the territorial needs and priorities that should be taken into account when formulating a federal post-pandemic recovery plan.”

Businesses can choose for their responses to remain confidential.