The Northwest Territories (NWT) has reached its cap of nominations for its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for the first time.
On July 22 the territory announced that it had reached and exceeded its cap of the 300 nominations for the Northwest Territory Nominee Program (NTNP) it was allocated by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2024.
This means the program will not accept new applications for the remainder of the year. However, according to a release from the territory’s government, there are exceptions for foreign nationals with work permits that expire in 2024 and those who meet all eligibility criteria and have already been working in the NWT in 2024.
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Also, the cap of 300 nominations was specifically for the Employer-Driven Stream and Francophone Stream. The NWT will continue to accept applications for the Business Stream.
The NWT government says applications currently being processed will receive a decision in the fall.
Reaching the cap this early in the year signals a growing interest among newcomers in Canada’s north. For example, in 2023 the territory issued 139 nominations, 100 in 2022 and just 62 in 2021.
While these numbers are small in comparison with Canada’s other provinces, The NWT says that the volume of applications received in 2024 is an indicator that the territory may benefit from increased annual nomination allocation in the coming years.
Every province and territory in Canada has a PNP (except Quebec and Nunavut). Through these programs, IRCC issues a number of nominations to each province and territory, which they may then use to select and nominate the economic immigration candidates they feel are best suited to the local labour force.
Once a province or territory nominates a candidate, the candidate is then in a stronger position to gain permanent residence status.
The number of nominations a province or territory is allocated depends on several factors such as existing population as well as economic and demographic needs. For example, Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, received the highest number of nominations in 2024 of all PNPs.
Canada’s territories
Canada has three northern territories, The NWT, the Yukon and Nunavut, all reaching past the Arctic Circle.
They are some of the most sparsely populated areas in the country. According to the Government of Canada, they contain 40% of the country’s land mass and roughly 3% of its population. This is largely due to the harsh climate conditions and long, dark winters.
The Northwest Territories has a population of 44,920, with nearly half (21,853) living and around
Yellowknife, the capital. NWT’s government says it also has the advantage of the highest median household income in Canada, making it an attractive potential destination for some newcomers.
Territories are different than provinces because of the way they are administered. For example, provinces “exercise constitutional powers in their own right”, while territories “exercise delegated powers under the authority of the Parliament of Canada.”
