The GNWT announced that the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) was going to reopen on Thursday. But that won't be happening for the time being.
A late-evening decision from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment on Wednesday indicated that it would not happen as scheduled. The announcement was made less than 12 hours before it was scheduled to kick off. The original announcement about the reopening came from the GNWT on Monday.
In a statement regarding the reversal, the department was told on Wednesday that immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would be reducing the NWT nominee allotment for 2025 to just 150, a 50 per cent cut from the 2024 figure of 300.
"Nomination allocations for each Canadian jurisdiction are determined annually by IRCC," stated the release. "Unaware of the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 2025 allotment prior to today, the GNWT announced earlier this week that it would start accepting 100 new applications in January 2025 with the potential to add additional intake periods later in the year."
In July 2024, the program, which helps immigrants attain permanent residency, exceeded its cap of 300 applications in record time. The year before saw just 139 applicants in total.
Now, the GNWT says it needs more time to re-assess the program.
"The Government of the Northwest Territories acknowledges the various organizations who continue to advocate for successful immigration to the Northwest Territories, and looks forward to further engagement," the release added.
The territorial government added that its announcement will inconvenience potential applicants, but remains committed to re-opening the nominee program and will communicate a new opening date as soon as possible.
According to the Statistics Canada 2021 census, and one per cent of the territory were non-permanent residents.
In August 2024, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller spoke to SA国际影视传媒, and said that both he and Education, Culture and Employment Minister Caitlin Cleveland had discussed the nominee program and were looking to find ways to increase the cap.
