In a week that saw the NWT Premier and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) promoting mineral exploration and development  in the NWT,  the Department of ITI has released its 2021 Socio-Economic Agreement Report that puts an exclamation point on why.

 

 

The report presents data and information from the ongoing operation of the NWT’s three active diamond mines (Ekati, Diavik, & Gahcho Kué) and paints a powerful picture of the economic benefits major projects can bring to NWT residents and communities.

 

 

Mining contributed one billion dollars to the NWT’s GDP in 2021. (Supporting activities for the mining and oil and gas sectors contributed another $32 million.)

Despite the effects and restrictions of the pandemic, the NWT’s diamond mines spent $505 million with NWT businesses and provided more than 800 person years of northern employment to NWT residents.

 

The historical spending of NWT diamond mines with NWT Businesses is $16.9 Billion.  Since 1996, the year of the first NWT diamond mine, cumulative employment of NWT residents has reached over 31,000 person-years.

The understood relationship between resource development and socio-economic wellbeing is, in large part, what makes the NWT a great place to invest and do business.

 

It has positioned the NWT at the forefront of Indigenous participation in mining, exploration and development in Canada – and as a leader in the application of Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG, performance. ESG is the trending framework in which these factors are being considered alongside financial factors in the investment decision-making process.