Northwest Territories Nominee Program to re-open February 27

Surya Rathee
[Published 27 Feb, 2025 | 12:43 PM]
About Author - 5 min read
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Foreign nationals looking to immigrate to Canada through the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) must apply between 9 am MT (Mountain Time) on February 27 and 5 pm (MT) on March 06 - for the 2025 intake.

The NTNP will process 90 new applications in 2025 to meet its overall nomination allocation of 150, along with 60 applications submitted last year in 2024. Once the intake closes, if the Northwest Territories (NWT) receives more applications than it can process, the NTNP will randomly select applications to proceed and will notify applicants via email.

The NTNP will process the chosen applications based on the expiry dates of the applicants' work permits. Additionally, the NWT government has revised its allocations to better address the need to respond to applicants with expiring work permits, acknowledge those who have dedicated significant time to their NWT employer, and support the various needs of NWT employers.

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Stream-by-stream allocations under NTNP

Employer-Driven Stream

The NTNP’s Employer-Driven Stream enables NWT employers to hire and nominate foreign workers for Canadian permanent residence (PR). As the name suggests, this stream requires an NWT employer to apply on behalf of the immigration candidate, as foreign nationals cannot apply directly.

The steam contains three categories:

• The Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations category,
• The Skilled Worker category and
• The NWT Express Entry category.

The following table shows the 2025 allotment for each stream, in addition to eligibility factors highlighted by the NTNP:

Unless specified, the work experience gained for the above eligibility must be gained:

• Immediately prior to applying to the NTNP; and
• With an applicant’s nominating employer, and in the same occupation.

In addition to the above, five applications under the Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations category and five more under the Skilled Worker and NWT Express Entry categories will be reserved for NWT employers in communities outside Yellowknife. These applications will follow the same eligibility criteria mentioned earlier.

NOTE: The table above does not provide a complete list of eligibility requirements for these streams. For more details on immigrating through the Employer-Driven stream, refer to the NTNP’s program guidelines and application checklists.

Employer-Driven and Francophone Stream

The NTNP will allocate 10 additional applications to employers through the Employer-Driven and Francophone streams, specifically reserved for Francophone candidates. As part of the NTNP’s 2025 intake, NWT employers will have a limit on the number of applications they can submit, based on their total number of employees.

The NTNP’s Francophone Stream is an employer-driven program that enables NWT businesses to hire bilingual foreign nationals and nominate them for permanent residence. To qualify, candidates must be proficient in both English and French and have a valid job offer from an NWT employer. Eligible occupations span all National Occupation Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) levels.

Why have these changes been made?

The NTNP’s application intake changes follow a 50% reduction in the territory's immigrant nomination allocation for 2025, reflecting a broader trend across all Canadian provinces and territories this year.

In response to housing and affordability concerns, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced late last year that PNP landings targets for 2025 would be cut in half. As a result, total admissions under Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) in the Canada Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027 - dropped from 110,000 in 2024 to just 55,000 in 2025.

This reduction has significantly impacted PNPs, prompting provinces and territories like New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon to adjust their application intake processes. The decline in PNP allocations comes amid rising demand for Canadian immigration programs. In 2024, the NTNP reached its annual immigrant nomination cap by July - a historic milestone for the program.

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Read More: Canada Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027

Source: gov.nt.ca