Why should I consider living in the Northwest Territories?

If you want to get away from the chaos of big city living and you have a love for natural beauty, the Northwest Territories (NWT) might be the perfect place for you. Located in the western half of Canada between Yukon and Nunavut, NWT has a population of a little over 40,000 people. With over a million square kilometres of land area, this makes it one of the most sparsely populated areas of Canada.

The population is largely centred around the capital city, Yellowknife, and the economy is based on NWT’s vast array of natural resources, including gold, diamonds, natural gas and petroleum.

What is NTNP?

The Northwest Territories Nomination Program, or NTNP, is a program whereby potential immigrants who have skills and experience that are in high demand are granted a Northwest Territories Provincial Nomination Certificate. This enables the individual to apply for permanent residence with processing times that are faster than they are for most federal immigration classes.

NTNP is divided into three streams: express entry, employer-driven programs and business-driven programs.

Northwest Territories Express Entry Stream

This program is available to selected individuals who have been placed on the federally run Express Entry pool by qualifying for the Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades or Canadian Experience Class programs. Eligible individuals are placed into the NWT Express Entry stream, which nominates them for immigration.

Employer Driven Programs

There are two employer-driven programs, as follows:

• Critical impact worker stream: this allows immigration applications from individuals who have received a job offer for a semi-skilled or unskilled position from a NWT employer, and who have been working in that position under a valid work permit for at least six months.
• Skilled worker stream: this is open to individuals who have received a job offer for a skilled position from an NWT employer.

Business Driven Program

Individuals who want to settle in NWT and create or acquire a business there can apply for immigration under the entrepreneur stream. Although applications are open to people in any line of business, preference is given to those who can demonstrate that their business will introduce either a new product, or one that will be of significant benefit to the NWT community and economy.

The self-employed stream, which allowed immigration applications from self-employed professionals wanting to set up NWT operations, is permanently closed.