On March 16, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) announced the release of its What We Heard report on phase two of an initiative to modernize the Public Service Act, including the creation of a public service labour relations board.
(The first phase of the initiative involved introducing the proposed amendments.)
Specifically, the second phase deals with changes to s. 41 of the Act, which outlines the framework for establishing bargaining units and how workers in the N.W.T.’s public sector are represented.
Section 41 establishes bargaining units for public servants, including GNWT employees, those of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and teachers.
The N.W.T. government has stated in the past the amendments would include processes for certification and decertification — something currently lacking in the territory — and thus give unionized public servants greater choice in how they are represented.
The input, gathered between October 2025 and January 2026, was taken from both public sector unions and the public, and carried out via online survey and written submissions, according to a news release.
One union to provide input was the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) — the largest of its kind in the N.W.T. As of December 2025, it was representing around 7,000 people employed by the territory’s government, as well as those working elsewhere in the N.W.T.’s public sector.
Others included the Northwest Territories’ Teachers Association and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Feedback from those groups included a desire for a “stable, orderly and predictable” labour relations framework, an avoidance of “undue fragmentation” of bargaining units, clear rules and “procedural” safeguards around labour relations, and decision-making that reflects “northern and Indigenous perspectives.”
As for the public’s input, 69.6 per cent of respondents agreed with the plan to amend s. 41. A dominant theme was the feeling that GNWT employees should have the right to choose who represents them. A significant number were critical of the way union representation is currently set up under the Act, and many voiced concerns about government overreach and political influence in how unions “are formed or operate.”
According to the N.W.T. government, the Public Service Act sets out the terms and conditions around how employees in the GNWT are managed and creates a “labour relations framework” on how the N.W.T. and its employees engage in discussions around workplace rights, collective bargaining and dispute resolution.
But the page goes on to call the Act “out of date” and in need of overhaul in the name of effectiveness, transparency and inclusivity.
The document goes on to discuss the planned changes to s. 41.
“This proposed change introduces a fair and structured way for employees to apply for certification of a new bargaining unit or decertification of an existing one, as well as choose different union representation,” it states. “The board will review applications and make decisions based on clear criteria, rather than leaving these choices fixed in legislation.”
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