The Northwest Territories government reports that the majority of the new Indigenous employees hired under the revised affirmative action policy are local residents. The new Indigenous employment policy, implemented in April the previous year, classifies Indigenous individuals as either stage one or stage two priority hires based on their ancestral ties to the region. Stage one priority hires consist of Indigenous applicants who are members or descendants of First Nations, Métis, or Inuit peoples from communities within the current boundaries of the Northwest Territories. On the other hand, stage two priority hires include Indigenous applicants from other regions in Canada outside of the Northwest Territories.
Since the implementation of the policy, nearly 1,000 individuals have been hired, with 226 identified as stage one priority and 34 as stage two. This marks a significant increase from the previous fiscal year when only 196 Indigenous workers were hired. Prior to the revision of the affirmative action policy, Indigenous representation in the territorial government was at its lowest recorded level despite Indigenous people making up approximately half of the territory’s population. At that time, Indigenous individuals accounted for about 29% of the public service workforce.
In a recent update, the territory stated that Indigenous hiring had seen a boost following the policy change, with the employment rate for Indigenous people now exceeding 33%. Despite this progress, concerns have been raised by some Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) regarding the policy’s impact on N.W.T. Indigenous residents. Some MLAs, including George Nerysoo and Kieron Testart, have expressed reservations about the policy’s effectiveness in benefiting their respective communities.
MLA George Nerysoo, representing Mackenzie Delta, highlighted that qualified residents from Fort McPherson, including university graduates, have not seen tangible benefits from the Indigenous employment policy. Nerysoo also mentioned feedback from other territorial government workers regarding the lack of Indigenous hiring. Similarly, MLA Kieron Testart from Range Lake shared concerns about the loss of priority hiring for non-Indigenous individuals and emphasized the need for a more inclusive approach to Indigenous employment that focuses on improving access to education across the Northwest Territories.
