The Northwest Territories government reports that a majority of the recently hired Indigenous employees under the revised affirmative action policy are local residents. Implemented in April last year, the new Indigenous employment policy categorizes 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 communities within the present boundaries of the Northwest Territories. On the other hand, stage two priority hires include Indigenous candidates from regions outside of the N.W.T.
Since the introduction of the policy, nearly 1,000 individuals have been hired by the territory. Of these hires, 226 were identified as stage one priority, while 34 were categorized as stage two. In the previous fiscal year, only 196 Indigenous workers were employed by the territory.
Prior to the policy change, Indigenous representation in the territorial government was at its lowest recorded level despite Indigenous people comprising around half of the population. They made up only 29% of the public service workforce at that time.
In a statement issued in May, the territory highlighted an increase in Indigenous hiring post-policy revision. According to a spokesperson from the Department of Finance, the employment rate for Indigenous individuals now stands at over 33%.
Despite these positive developments, concerns persist among some Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) regarding the policy’s impact on N.W.T. Indigenous residents. George Nerysoo, MLA for Mackenzie Delta, expressed his observation that residents from his community, including university graduates, have not benefitted from the Indigenous employment policy.
Additionally, Nerysoo noted feedback from territorial government workers indicating a lack of Indigenous hiring. Meanwhile, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart shared similar sentiments, emphasizing the need to reinstate priority hiring benefits for non-Indigenous northerners that were available under the previous affirmative action policy.
Testart emphasized the importance of enhancing Indigenous education access across the Northwest Territories as a key long-term strategy to boost Indigenous employment within the region.