Yellowknife – November 10, 2026

The Northwest Territories received an additional 50 allocations for its Nominee Program from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which sets provincial and territorial nominee allocations annually. This brings the total nominee allocation for 2026 to 350.

To accommodate the increase, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is adding an additional Expression of Interest (EOI) draw on November 18, 2026. To be considered for this draw, an Expression of Interest profile must be submitted by November 17, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Northwest Territories Time.

Profiles will be ranked by score. Employers of the highest-ranking candidates will be invited through scheduled draws to submit an application. To support timely processing, applicants selected in the final draw should be prepared to submit a completed application within one week of receiving an invitation to apply.

If you need to make any changes to your profile, please email the Northwest Territories Nominee Program at immigration@gov.nt.ca to withdraw your current profile and then submit a new one.

This will be the fifth draw of the Employer Driven Stream for 2026. The previous four draws were held on March 25, June 25, August 26 and September 22. The selection rounds held in 2027 will be confirmed once federal allocations for the Northwest Territories have been received.

The Northwest Territories Nominee Program allows the GNWT to nominate foreign nationals for permanent residency who intend to live and work in the NWT and meet territorial labour-market needs.

The program offers three streams: Employer-Driven, Francophone, and Business. The Expression of Interest application process strengthens fairness and transparency within the Employer-Driven Stream. It allows the GNWT to manage the number of applications and demand for the program, while choosing people who best match local job needs and who are likely to stay and build a life in NWT communities. Interest in the program continues to exceed available nomination spaces, meaning there are more applicants than available spots in the program.

More information about the Expression of Interest System is available here.

Note that the Francophone and Business streams do not operate under the Expression of Interest System and continue to evaluate applications on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Quick facts:

• The Northwest Territories’ Nominee Program is an economic immigration program designed to strengthen the Northwest Territories’ economy.
• Immigration is a shared responsibility between the federal and territorial governments. The Government of Canada determines who is admitted to Canada, issues immigration visas, and determines immigration classes and annual levels, including the nomination allocation for the NWT Nomination Program. The GNWT has the responsibility to recruit, assess and nominate territorial nominees and fill the allocation determined by the federal government.
• A breakdown of the previous draws is available here. It provides key numbers such as: profiles drawn, invitations sent, categories and location in the NWT of the selected profiles, and the range of Expression of Interest Scores.
• For 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had originally allocated a total of 197 Nominee Program nominations to the NWT. Following sustained territorial advocacy, that number was increased to 300, then 350, the highest number of allocations received by the Northwest Territories.

For media requests, please contact:
Public Affairs and Communications
Department of Education, Culture and Employment
Government of the Northwest Territories
Email: ecepublicaffairs@gov.nt.ca