Northwest Territories Francophone Stream

The Northwest Territories Francophone Stream is a permanent residence program for French-speakers with a job offer in the Northwest Territories. The stream is a part of the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) operated by the northern territory.

The Northwest Territories Francophone Stream enables the Northwest Territories to attract newcomers to the Northwest Territories who align with current workforce needs and help increase the Francophone population. Notably, applicants to the Francophone Stream must have proficiency in both French and English.

The program matches the Immigration Minister’s goal to help French-speaking communities outside Quebec grow stronger, as shown by the new laws and funding announced in January 2024.

In order to apply for the Northwest Territories Francophone Stream, foreign nationals must:

• Have a valid, full-time permanent job offer in the NWT. This job offer can be at any skill level.
  • Applicants inside Canada must have a valid work permit during the application process.
  • Applicants outside Canada do not require a work permit to apply. If approved for nomination, these applicants are eligible for a work permit support letter which allows them to apply for a work permit (exempt from the LMIA requirement).
• Have at least one year of full-time experience in the occupation for which they’re being nominated, or six months of full-time experience in the NWT in the occupation for which they’re being nominated.
• Have required territorial certification, licensing or accreditation of the specific trade or occupation for which they’re being nominated.
• Obtain official language test results consistent with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of Level 5 across all four abilities in French and CLB 4 across all four abilities in English.
• Not be a refugee claimant.

Foreign nationals who meet the eligibility criteria can submit an application online via the Northwest Territories Nominee Program website.

The Francophone Stream is not aligned with the federal Express Entry system. This means that applicants who are successfully nominated by the Northwest Territories will have to apply for permanent residence at the federal level through the traditional application process. Processing times for these types of applications commonly exceed one year.

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