LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Emergency Response

Oct 2: After several seasons of major floods and wildfires, the GNWT issued a press release summarizing the actions it’s taken to strengthen emergency response across the territories, including updates to the NWT Emergency Plan to clarify roles and responsibilities, launch of the DriveNWT travel information site and implementation of surge capacity protocols.

Ergonomics

Oct 1: Roughly 1.2% of all injury claims submitted to the WSCC in 2024 were due to lifting and twisting incidents, according to the agency’s new safety bulletin. Industry sectors and occupations cited as being at high risk include janitors, caretakers, and building superintendents, air transport ramp attendants, and construction trades helpers and workers.

Action Point: Find out how to implement an Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention and Compliance Game Plan at your workplace.

New Laws

Sep 15: The GNWT issued a new What We Heard Report summarizing the findings of its recent public consultations on whether the government should develop an Indigenous Procurement Policy to create greater opportunities for and foster the growth of Indigenous businesses.

Environmental

Oct 1: The GNWT began accepting new applications for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program funding for the installation of EV charging stations in public places, workplaces, multi-unit residential buildings, and light-duty fleet use. Qualified businesses can get up to $7,500 for Level 2 charger connectors and up to $99,999 for Level 3 fast chargers. Deadline to apply: March 31, 2026.

CASES

Workplace Harassment: Employer Didn’t Do Enough to Protect Nurses from Abuse of Local Population

Nurses stationed in a small facility in a remote and mostly Indigenous South Slave region with a long history of colonial tensions accused their employer, the GNWT, of not doing enough to protect them from the constant harassment, threats, verbal abuse and social media attacks of the local population. It’s a complicated community and we have a full violence and harassment incident reporting system and action plan in place, the GNWT countered. But the Northwest Territories arbitrator sided with the union ruling that the GNWT didn’t meet its duty to furnish nurses a safe and harassment-free workplace. Although the GNWT took some measures like collecting incident reports, holding wellness debriefings and sporadically intervening with community leaders, it didn’t implement “a progressive strategy to sanction or control abusive community members, nor did it provide clear and timely communication to employees regarding the steps taken to protect them” [Northwest Territories v Union of Northern Workers, 2025 CanLII 91062 (NT LA), August 29, 2025].

Action Point: Find out how to implement an effective Workplace Violence and Harassment Compliance Game Plan at your site.