Statistics Canada released data showing the N.W.T. was among the few areas of the country that saw an increased rate of month to month building permits at the end of 2025. The territory stood out as an outlier, even among other jurisdictions that saw increases, with a whopping rate of over 2,000 per cent in increased develoment permits in late 2025.
“The Northwest Territories was up 2,090.2%,” according to the report which was released on Jan. 13 by Stats Canada. According to the data, this represents an increase of $33 million.
While the majority of builds were non residential, the significant increase shows that there is a substantial amount of development being planned for the N.W.T.
In comparison, permits across the country showed an overall decrease of about 13.1 per cent in November compared to the previous month.
Newfoundland and Labrador saw decreases of 21.2 per cent, New Brunswick saw a 6.3 per cent decline, Quebec 19.4 per cent down, Ontario was down by 22 per cent, Manitoba was down by 27.1 per cent, Saskatchewan by 6.2 per cent and Alberta was down 1.6 per cent.
Bordering territories were also down in late 2025, with Nunavut down by 10.9 per cent and Yukon by 53.1 per cent.
Last week, MP Minister Rebecca Alty said while there have been some improvements towards infrastructure, including an added $13 billion for housing across the country and 1 billion for the Arctic Infrastructure fund (announced in November) under PM Mark Carney’s government in 2025, more work is ahead.
MP Minister Alty emphasized that this is particularly the case regarding the housing crisis in the N.W.T.
The cabinet minister said housing remains a “key” priority in advocating for the NWT and anticipates that more federal investment plans in housing for Northerners will emerge in the coming months.
“The core things would be in regards to housing, and so, a lot of investments were made with the last government, so continuing to invest in housing and last week, I was just in the Dehcho region, Fort Providence, Jean Marie River and Nahanni Butte and getting to see the new houses on the ground and to be able to talk to people and what a difference, those have made in their lives.”
MP Alty is among a handful Northern MPs in history to enter the federal cabinet, and reflected that stepping into the leadership role has deepened her awareness of the immense level of need in the North.
“I remember walking into my first cabinet meeting and really realizing the lack of representation of voice that we’ve had,” said Minister Alty.
