YELLOWKNIFE, NT – August 31, 2026 – The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce is calling on the Government of the Northwest Territories to move forward with the investment required to advance Aurora College’s North Slave Campus, highlighting the importance of building the skilled and productive workforce and post-secondary capacity needed to participate in the economy coming to the Northwest Territories.

In a letter to Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek, the Chamber expressed its support for the investment currently before the Financial Management Board and encouraged the GNWT to proceed with urgency.

“The NWT needs this investment to build the skilled and productive workforce required to participate in the economy that is coming,” said Mark Henry, President of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce. “There is no alternative ready to advance, and this approach leverages private-sector investment to overcome the GNWT’s very real fiscal constraints while delivering infrastructure the territory needs.”

The North Slave Campus proposal is the result of years of strategic planning, professional analysis and significant public investment. Moving forward would build on that work and provide Aurora College with the certainty needed to advance its planning and development.

Expanded post-secondary capacity in the North Slave region is an important part of preparing the Northwest Territories for anticipated investments in Arctic sovereignty, defence, infrastructure and resource development. Ensuring Northerners can develop the skills required to participate in these opportunities will help keep more of the economic benefits of those investments within the territory.

“Walking away means starting over within those same fiscal constraints, losing years of institutional development and delaying our ability to prepare our workforce for the major investments already coming to our territory,” said Henry. “We should be building that capacity now, not restarting the process.”

The Chamber also emphasized that its support for the North Slave Campus is part of the broader need for investment in post-secondary education and skills development across the Northwest Territories. This includes continued investment in effective programming at the Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith and the Aurora Campus in Inuvik. Preparing now for the workforce demands associated with the major investments ahead is essential to ensuring Northern people and businesses can participate in and benefit from those opportunities.

Preparing now for the workforce demands associated with the major investments ahead is essential to ensuring Northern people and businesses can participate in and benefit from those opportunities.

The Chamber believes moving the North Slave Campus forward is an investment in our people, our businesses and the NWT’s ability to capture the long-term economic benefits of the opportunities ahead, and encourages the GNWT to complete the necessary due diligence and move toward implementation with urgency.