Settling in Northwest Territories

A person is eligible if they are lawfully entitled to be or remain in Canada and make their home in, and are ordinarily present in, the NWT (at least 153 days a year).

Permanent residents apply with a copy of their PR card, front and back.

Foreign nationals apply with a copy of a study permit (with confirmation of school enrolment) or a work permit or other immigration document; the page states no minimum permit length.

People in Canada on a work permit, study permit or other immigration document are told to contact the Health Services Administration Office about their eligibility.

Tourists, transients and visitors should not apply.

One application covers the applicant, a spouse or partner, and dependants.

People moving from elsewhere in Canada become eligible on the first day of the third month after the month they became residents (arrive July 4, covered October 1).

Under the Medical Care Act (physician services), every resident becomes eligible on the first day of the third month after becoming a resident, subject to the Act and regulations.

Under the Hospital Insurance Regulations (hospital services), a resident is insured after three months of continuous residence.

The same regulations exempt from that hospital waiting period a resident who is a permanent resident under IRPA and is not eligible for insured services from any province or territory.

The territory's immigration site describes the rule simply as residence after 3 months.

Applying is free.

Applicants also send two documents showing their name and current NWT home address.

The card takes about six weeks to arrive.

For any gap before coverage, the territory's immigration site points to private insurance companies.

The health department recommends travel insurance for emergency medical travel before NWT coverage takes effect, if the employer gives no medical travel benefits.

After moving to the NWT, a driver has 30 days to transfer their licence, in person at a driver and vehicle office.

Licence transfers are done in person only.

A foreign national living in the NWT can drive with a valid foreign licence plus an International Driving Permit, which is valid for 12 months.

A foreign licence can be exchanged only if the country is eligible; the page publishes no list and tells drivers to ask their local office.

Drivers who cannot exchange must pass a knowledge test for a learner's permit and a road test.

The foreign licence and IDP are surrendered when the NWT licence is issued.

Updating an NWT licence requires legal status in Canada, and a licence cannot be updated when the work or study permit expires within 90 days.

Under the Education Act, a resident of the NWT who is a Canadian citizen, or lawfully admitted for temporary or permanent residence, or the child of such a person, is entitled to the education program.

No tuition is charged to a student registered at a public or public denominational school in the district where the student lives.

A school may admit a child whose parent does not live in the NWT and may charge that child tuition.

A parent who arrives after the school year starts must register a child aged 6 to 15 within 30 days of becoming a resident.

In Yellowknife, the public district (YK1) has parents download a registration form and bring it to the school or the district office.

YK1 registration is not complete until the school receives a copy of the child's health card and birth certificate.

Yellowknife schools have a free IRCC-funded Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program for newcomer students and parents.

The welcome guide was published in January 2020, so its provider details may be out of date.

According to the guide, settlement providers help with job searches, applying for health care and opening a bank account, and IRCC-funded settlement services were available only in Yellowknife.

The guide says Aurora College's Integration Office gives free settlement services to permanent residents, Live-in Caregiver program participants and Convention refugees.

Free LINC English classes run only in Yellowknife and are open to the same groups.

IRCC's NWT page points newcomers to the territory's welcome guide.