The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has announced the 2024 adjustment to minimum wage in the Northwest Territories (NWT). Effective September 1, 2024, the minimum wage will increase from $16.05 per hour to $16.70 per hour. This increase reflects the GNWT’s commitment to ensuring that wages keep pace with the rising cost of living, using a formula based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the average hourly wage for 2023.

The attached is being distributed on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and the Northwest Territories Early Childhood Association (NWTECA)

Today, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) introduced the Post-Secondary Education Accountability Framework, which establishes a reporting structure for the post-secondary education system in the Northwest Territories.

The Framework, guided by feedback from post-secondary education partners, outlines the performance measures and responsibilities for post-secondary institutional reporting, and has two purposes:  

The Government of the Northwest Territories is now accepting applications for Early Learning and Child Care Scholarships for the 2024-2025 school year.

Full-time students are eligible for $5,000 per school year and part-time students are eligible for up to $500 per course, to a maximum of $2,500 per school year.

These scholarships are designed for students enrolled in in-person or online diploma or degree programs with a direct focus in early childhood development at accredited post-secondary institutions.

Two sets of regulations came into force on July 1, 2024 that support improvements to the Northwest Territories (NWT) Income Assistance program.

They include:

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is pleased to announce that high school diplomas will soon be issued in every official language of the Northwest Territories.

Starting this month, all high school diplomas issued will be trilingual: English, French, and the Indigenous language of the graduating student’s choosing. The Northwest Territories seal is also in all 11 official languages.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is now accepting funding proposals for the Early Childhood Infrastructure Fund for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The Early Childhood Infrastructure Fund is designed for projects that preserve or expand existing infrastructure of licensed centre-based childcare spaces or that create new licensed centre-based child care spaces in Northwest Territories communities.

Funding priority will be given to communities with limited or no early learning and childcare programming.

The Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) have signed a new Canada-Northwest Territories (NWT) Agreement on French Language Services from 2023-2024 to 2027-2028.

Under the new agreement, $5.9 million will be invested per fiscal year, for a total of $29.5 million over five years. The funding is provided to support the continued delivery of French language communications and services by GNWT departments, boards, and agencies.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has released the Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education System Performance Measures Technical Report for 2022-2023.

This annual report provides a snapshot of the state of the Northwest Territories (NWT) education system and provides crucial data to help the GNWT and education bodies address student needs and provide the supports and resources necessary for students to thrive.

Check against delivery

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the hard work and commitment of northern teachers, but they do not work alone. Support Assistants play a vital role in classrooms across the Northwest Territories so today I ask my colleagues to help me celebrate some recent successes of some support assistants through the School Support Assistant Pilot Program.