Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've been speaking with business owners who use the Northwest Territories nominee program, and one of the issues that's been brought to my attention is they pay Northerners minimum wage but they pay nominees median wage based on their occupation, and usually -- and it's always higher than the minimum wage. Now, that is -- there's a good reason for that. But can the Minister explain clearly to the House, so there's no confusion, about why there's a discrepancy in compensation for Northerners versus nominees? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we set the minimum wage here in the Northwest Territories and we work to develop a formula, and we worked with employers and an entire committee to develop this formula that's based on the consumer price index. And it was determined when that formula was produced, and come up with with employers, that not having a predictable way of determining what minimum wage would be year over year created some challenges and some unexpectedness as far as running a business. So that's where that formula was born.
Now, the median wage that is used by the Northwest Territories nominee program is actually set by the Government of Canada. That is a requirement under this program, that we use a median wage. And the Member is right. That median wage follows different occupational codes, and the reason for that is that through the nominee program, through the temporary work program that the Government of Canada has for immigration purposes, these individuals need to make sure that they can cover their monthly expenses. Often they're not eligible for other support programs that provinces and territories have. Thank you.
Thank you. Yes, and that is important to get out there as well because it is frustrating, I think, for employers. But there's still that gap, and often they're in a position where they're paying more for the same work performed by a northerner to a nominee, and that's not what the intention of the program is for plugging labour shortages. So what can the Minister offer to these employers to make sure that everyone can be compensated the same way and there is no pay disparity between Northerners and between nominees? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, what I often hear from employers is that, well, first of all, the median wage, it's important for people to understand is higher than the minimum wage. Quite often in the NWT, many workers are not making minimum wage unless they're in, for example, a frontline service as in a grocery store, sometimes you'll find people there making minimum wage, or in other types of industries. But often what you'll find in the Northwest Territories is in order to be competitive with other employers, employers cannot pay minimum wage. And so where we have a minimum wage in the territory that accounts for people who might be working in a role that brings in tips or works with a lot of youth, for example, we have to follow the median wage set by the Government of the Northwest -- or sorry, the Government of Canada for the nominee pProgram and the temporary foreign worker program. Thank you.
Thank you,Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and to be clear to the Minister, we're not talking -- we're talking about people who are paying the minimum wage for service jobs, and that's what we're talking about here. And this is a real situation. This is not a hypothetical. There are Northerners in those jobs, people who are born and raised here, who are making minimum wage versus nominee program workers who are making median wage. So how are we going to reconcile that so we make sure everyone is on a fair playing field? Because I don't think it's fair to those minimum wage workers, and certainly it's a burden on the employers. They can't pay more wage. So how are we going to help them? What kind of subsidies or programs can the Minister use to support businesses and support workers, especially young workers in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, if we want to make sure that we're filling our labour market needs across this territory, we need to make sure that we are paying people a wage that they can live off. And so if that means that employers, unfortunately, have to raise their minimum wage so that people can take on those jobs, that's where we're at. But we're not in a position to go against a median wage set by the Government of Canada that is a requirement. And if people are wanting to see parity between what foreign workers are making and what Northerners are making, then they're going to have to meet that median wage. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
