Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you noted, it is National Flag Day. It is only befitting that I talk about immigration. Our country is obviously a great one. Arguably, our territory is one of the greatest things about it. I appreciate the effort the government is making as it relates to attracting immigrants here to the North. My questions are for the Minister of ITI. I would like to start to ask the Minister: as mentioned in my Member's statement, ITI's business stream for attracting immigration doesn't appear to have been that successful over the past few years. Can the Minister advise us if the department's latest numbers indicate any improvement in recruiting immigration to the business stream? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The latest numbers that I have in front of me here, I will read them out so everyone can hear them:
Arrived in NWT for operating businesses, we had four applicants, for a total investment of $1.2 million;
Signed a BPA and awaiting arrival in NWT is 10 applicants, for $3.9 million;
Submitted application for the Northwest Territories Nominee Program's staffing analysis is one, for $300,000; and
Received an invitation to apply and staff awaiting applicants is seven, for $2.3 million.
A total of 22, with a total investment of almost $8 million. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Those are, I suppose, maybe good statistics to hear. Can the Minister indicate to us if the department feels that they are meeting their intentions with regard to attracting immigrants into the business stream? I appreciate getting the statistics. Are those numbers what we are trying to achieve? Are we behind or are we ahead of our goals?
If we go based on the number that is always thrown around, attracting 2,000 immigrants to the Northwest Territories, if you put ECE's file and mine together, we are nowhere near the 2,000 number. We are working diligently to try to improve that. Myself and the department have had conversations about how we can approach the business stream of things and how we can maybe change things up to attract more people into the Northwest Territories. The department is working very hard on this initiative by launching a new website, working to streamline the process and make it simpler, and these sorts of things.
I think one of the conversations that has taken place that I can update Members on is with myself and the department. We are looking at the challenges. The federal government takes so long to approve some of these applicants. That is a hindrance to the whole process. Maybe we start looking at attracting immigrants from inside the country, newly arrived immigrants who have moved to Canada and maybe want to relocate and look at moving somewhere else, or business opportunities and that sort of matter. That is one of the things the department and I have talked about.
One of the other things we are talking about and we want to sit down with is the three diamond mines, and see if there is an opportunity there with the people who are flying in and outside of our territory. We would prefer them to be living here. Is there a group of immigrants who we can attract from outside the country who could potentially relocate and move to the Northwest Territories and work in these mines? These are the kinds of conversations that are taking place. We want to try to increase the numbers.
I appreciate the Minister providing that fulsome answer. It seems as though he is having some genuine conversations and putting considerable effort into this important area, which is applauded by me, quite frankly. We have seen success in the past as it relates to attracting the immigrants here. The Minister will recall that the secondary diamond industry brought a number of folks here, Armenians in particular. It is those kinds of efforts I would like to see us undertake in the future.
Specifically to the business stream, you heard me speak earlier today about other jurisdictions making some changes to attract people. In British Columbia, the initial investment has to be $200,000 to have an immigrant come in and invest in small business. Ours is $300,000 for the City of Yellowknife. Is there any kind of consideration being given to that investment that can help attract immigrants more to the North?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a conversation that I have not had with the department. If the fee is a hindrance to the people moving here, I will take that up with the department and get back to the Member if that's a possibility of having a look at that.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that. That is a critical factor. I mean, obviously, how much somebody has to take out of their savings to invest in a new country where they are not familiar with the rules and the policies, it's a big risk. Recognizing that we are also competing with other jurisdictions, I think if we can give that some serious consideration, then it will be to our benefit.
I am wondering if the Minister has taken the opportunity to reach out to others in terms of industry and small business. You mentioned the diamond mines, but are there others that the Minister and the department are reaching out to, to learn from where it is that we need additional capacity? Where we need new skills sets? Where we need new investment? I gave the example of the secondary diamond industry. Are there other opportunities we could exploit?
Yes, those are two exactly that I have raised. It's funny that he's mentioned the secondary diamond industry. As we all know, Almod Diamonds have purchased the one site out on Airport Road, and the issue they are having right now around getting that up and running is through Immigration Canada and how long it takes, and I'm referring back to that. As far as other industries, I have not talked to anyone else about "Is there an opportunity to do this?" The business side of it is for new investment dollars for businesses in the Northwest Territories. I get the Member's point around if we're not being cost competitive with a sister territory, like a province like BC, if they're $200,000 and we're $350,000, that takes us out of the market. This is a high cost of a country to doing business, and we will have to have a serious look at that. I'm open to any kind of input from all Members or residents of the Northwest Territories on how we can increase the numbers in the business stream. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
