The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services (NTHSSA) is recommending residents with non-urgent dental travel plans review their dental appointments and plan for a later date if they do not already have confirmation of accommodations for their travel. This recommendation is due to extremely limited accommodations in Yellowknife, which is a trend we are seeing more across the city, but especially common this time of year with enhanced travel and tourism.

In Yellowknife, the boarding home accommodates most medical travelers and relies on hotel rooms when at capacity. The GNWT and the NTHSSA continue to review options to ease accommodation pressures during this high-demand period.

What Residents Should Do

Residents covered under the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program:

• Confirm accommodations before booking a dental appointment: Ensure you have a place to stay before scheduling your non-urgent dental appointment. Reimbursement is available at applicable rates.
• Residents in the Beaufort-Delta Region: Confirm with NIHB or your own insurance for coverage. Can book a dental appointment in Whitehorse.
• Residents with accommodations and/or travel scheduled for other reasons: Those with travel already scheduled with accommodations may want to consider booking non-urgent or urgent dental appointments during that time.  

Residents covered under other benefit programs (e.g., employer-sponsored plans):

• Contact your employer’s benefit administrator: Work with your benefits provider to confirm travel and accommodation options.

For all residents:

• Consider private accommodations if available: if you can stay with family or friends and don’t want to reschedule your dental appointment, consider this option when making travel plans.

Residents with medical travel not related to dental, should continue to work with their respective medical travel benefit administrators to plan their travel and accommodations.  

For media requests, please contact:

Umesh Sutendra
A/Manager, Communications         
Department of Health and Social Services
Government of the Northwest Territories
HSSmedia@gov.nt.ca
(867) 767-9052 ext. 49036