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The territory's nominee program is slated to open for the second time next month as the territory's Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is still urging the federal government to restore it to its previous capacity.

The intake period will be open from 9:00 a.m. on July 2 to 5 p.m. on July 9. Eligible individuals can apply online through the .

The first intake ran from Feb. 27 to March 6. Following that period, 21 nomination spaces remain available out of the 150 allocated for the NWT in 2025, according to the GNWT.

The second intake will accept 10 applications under the Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations stream, 10 under the Skilled Worker/Express Entry stream, and one under the Francophone stream to fill the remaining spaces, the GNWT noted.

If more applications are received than the number allotted in a stream, they will be randomly selected within that stream. If one of the three categories is not full, it will be filled by the other categories, the GNWT added.

The program will reopen under the current eligibility criteria, with one change: work permit eligibility has been extended to March 31, 2026. Other updates to the guidelines include clarifications to existing criteria, such as provisions for extended leave, according to the GNWT.

For this year, the amount of applications employers can submit is based on the size of their business, with the following limits:

• employers with 1 - 10 total NWT employees: 1 application;
• employers with 11 - 49 total NWT employees: 2 applications; and
• employers with 50 or more total NWT employees: 4 applications.

The territorial government stated it will assess applications based on the order of work permit expiry date and ensure all submitted documentation meets the eligibility criteria and successful applicants will be notified by email if their application is selected.

Minister still pleading with Ottawa

Under the previous Justin Trudeau government, the nominee program was cut in half, down to 150.

Caitlin Cleveland stated that has since meant the NWT has had to turn away qualified workers and families.

"Employers are struggling to fill essential jobs," she said in a release Thursday. "And newcomers who came here with hope are being told there’s no path forward— not because they’ve done anything wrong, but because the system no longer makes room for them."

Cleveland, who was in Ottawa earlier this month, said she spoke with Lena Metlege Diab, the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC). She said she told Diab the NWT needs its full allocation of 300 restored.

"The Nominee Program is one of the few tools we have to attract and retain working-age people in the midst of a national labour shortage," stated Cleveland, noting it fuels the territory's private sector and promotes diversity. "Without it, we are losing people we need."

Cleveland also made the case using Prime Minister Mark Carney's perspective of making nation-building a top priority for Canada.

"Nation-building projects require workers. Sovereignty requires presence. Growth requires people," she said.

Cleveland is not alone in her calls to restore the program. At the start of this year, the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce also sent out a similar message to Ottawa to address what it calls a workforce crisis across the territory.

At the start of this year, the GNWT announced that the nominee program was going to reopen on Jan. 30, only to reverse course less than 12 hours before it was scheduled to kick off. 

Though the current cap is technically 150, the chamber's president, Matt Halliday, previously explained that hundreds of applications were submitted when only 90 spots were made available.

That's because the GWNT received 60 more applications than the limit in 2024, which were processed and they came out of this year's allocation, according to the GNWT.