Sep 30, 2026 · 34 min · 12 segments
N.W.T. Minister Caitlin Cleveland discusses the region’s next chapter, from critical minerals and AI, to infrastructure, Indigenous partnerships, and workforce development. Brought to you on…
Caitlin ClevelandGuestDeirdra TindaleHostI know that in June of this year, there was a debate in the Assembly about trades, specifically looking at solutions for tradespeople without Red Seal.
You were one of the individuals who contributed to that debate, not just in the case of people who are looking to transition after working in mining, but what is the state of tradespeople up in the Northwest Territories? What is the situation that you're looking at there at the moment? We've heard the government of Canada, for example, make announcements about contributing funding for skilled trades.
Just like the rest of the country, the North is certainly working hard to make sure that we're growing our tradespeople across the territories.
We've got over 320 apprentices right now in the Northwest Territories that are at different stages of their training.
We do have a local to the Northwest Territories trades training post-secondary institution called Aurora College.
That college is used by students from the Northwest Territories, but also from external to the Northwest Territories students.
And I have to kind of celebrate their classrooms and the technology that they have within their classrooms.
So if somebody is looking for an available seat to go and do their training, it's in Fort Smith, which is a beautiful town right on the border of Alberta.
At the same time, though, we are making some changes across the territory because we know that it is also about the mentorship that happens between when you're in a college setting.
So you need to be able to do your eight to 12 weeks in your college setting and then return to your employer.
In order to get your hours and acknowledging that we have a lot of people in the territory that have decades of experience, but might not have that Red Seal certificate.
We've actually been working with communities to have what's called a designated trainer.
So someone who has those hours and years of experience in a trade, but doesn't have that piece of paper, how can they contribute to the mentorship and supervision of our next generation of tradespeople? So that's one of the ways that we've really honed in on using the skill sets that are available.
In addition, we have what's called student financial assistance in order to support the education needs in our territory.
And then we also have workforce development dollars so that students that want to go and do trades training can access not only their tuition dollars, but also dollars for their living expenses on a monthly basis.
I know that in June of this year, there was a debate in the Assembly about trades, specifically looking at solutions for tradespeople without Red Seal.
You were one of the individuals who contributed to that debate, not just in the case of people who are looking to transition after working in mining, but what is the state of tradespeople up in the Northwest Territories? What is the situation that you're looking at there at the moment? We've heard the government of Canada, for example, make announcements about contributing funding for skilled trades.
Just like the rest of the country, the North is certainly working hard to make sure that we're growing our tradespeople across the territories.
We've got over 320 apprentices right now in the Northwest Territories that are at different stages of their training.
We do have a local to the Northwest Territories trades training post-secondary institution called Aurora College.
That college is used by students from the Northwest Territories, but also from external to the Northwest Territories students.
And I have to kind of celebrate their classrooms and the technology that they have within their classrooms.
So if somebody is looking for an available seat to go and do their training, it's in Fort Smith, which is a beautiful town right on the border of Alberta.
At the same time, though, we are making some changes across the territory because we know that it is also about the mentorship that happens between when you're in a college setting.
So you need to be able to do your eight to 12 weeks in your college setting and then return to your employer.
In order to get your hours and acknowledging that we have a lot of people in the territory that have decades of experience, but might not have that Red Seal certificate.
We've actually been working with communities to have what's called a designated trainer.
So someone who has those hours and years of experience in a trade, but doesn't have that piece of paper, how can they contribute to the mentorship and supervision of our next generation of tradespeople? So that's one of the ways that we've really honed in on using the skill sets that are available.
In addition, we have what's called student financial assistance in order to support the education needs in our territory.
And then we also have workforce development dollars so that students that want to go and do trades training can access not only their tuition dollars, but also dollars for their living expenses on a monthly basis.
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