The Northwest Territories Employer-Driven and Francophone streams now open

As of 12 p.m. on March 9, the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) is officially opening its Employer-Driven and Francophone Streams for candidate consideration.

This comes following the Program switching to an Expression of Interest (EOI) model for its Employer-Driven Stream in late February of this year.

The NTNP will hold its first EOI draw on March 25, through which up to 65 eligible candidates will be invited to submit an application.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams

Though subsequent draw dates have yet to be released, the Government of the Northwest Territories (NWT) has stated that it “expects to conduct several Expression of Interest draws throughout the year.”

The NTNP's Francophone stream will continue to receive direct applications on a first-come first-serve basis.

For 2026, the federal government has granted the NWT 197 nomination spaces.

How to be considered for an upcoming EOI draw

As mentioned prior, the new EOI model is only applicable to those wishing to be considered under the NWT’s Employer-Driven Stream, which consists of three pathways:

To be considered through this stream, you must first have a job offer from an NWT-based employer.

As this is an employer-driven stream, you cannot submit an application on your own behalf—your employer must do it for you.

Below is the breakdown of the process, once you have received a qualifying job offer (stream-dependent):

Step 1) Your employer must register and create an online account in the NTNP's online application portal, and select “Employer-Driven Stream.”

Step 2) You complete an EOI survey, through which you will be awarded points based on the following factors:

Human Capital (max 375 points): Your language proficiency, age, work experience, and level of education.
Connections to the NWT Labour Market (max 340 points): Level of employment and duration of time employed in the NWT, possession of a trades job offer, holding an employer-specific work permit in the NWT, and employment in a smaller NWT community.
Adaptability (max 130 points): Having immediate family members in the NWT and completing post-secondary education within the territory.

A more detailed breakdown of how points are distributed can be found here.

Step 3) Each profile will be reviewed by the NWT and assigned a score; the employers of the highest-ranking profiles will be invited in an EOI draw to submit a complete application on behalf of nominee candidates.

The NTNP notes that applications will be assessed in the order they are received.

If an employer does not receive an invitation to apply (ITA) through an EOI draw, they cannot submit an application. Successful applicants get a nomination.

Note: Like the Francophone Stream, the NTNP’s Business Stream—aimed at individuals seeking to establish or acquire a business in the NWT—has not adopted an EOI model and continues to function on a first-come, first-served basis.

What happens after getting a nomination?

The process of getting permanent residence (PR) post-nomination differs depending on whether you were nominated through an NWT base stream (non-Express Entry) or an enhanced stream (Express Entry-aligned).

For example, those who were nominated through base streams of the NTNP, such as the Francophone Stream or the Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations or Skilled Worker pathways of the Employer-Driven Stream, can apply directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for PR.

If you received a nomination through the NWT Express Entry pathway of the Employer-Driven Stream, you receive 600 points toward your Comprehensive Ranking System score in the federal Express Entry pool, which all but guarantees an ITA in an upcoming draw—which you can then use to apply to IRCC for PR.

The process for successful applicants under the Business Stream differs considerably and can be found broken down in detail here.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams