Workers' Compensation in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut: WSCC Claims

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut share a single administrator, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (WSCC), which runs two separate but textually near-identical statutes: the Workers' Compensation Act, SNWT 2007, c. 21, in the Northwest Territories, and the Workers' Compensation Act, S.Nu. 2007, c. 15, in Nunavut. Every provision checked for this article carries the same section number in both Acts, a structural artifact of the two territories splitting from a single pre-1999 statute and re-enacting parallel laws in 2007. Covered workers get no-fault benefits after a workplace injury, and a Commission decision can be challenged first through a Review Committee and then before the Appeals Tribunal.

Information last verified on 2026-08-14. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Key takeaways

Jurisdiction scope: This article addresses workers' compensation coverage, claims, benefits, and appeals in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut under the Workers' Compensation Act, SNWT 2007, c. 21, and the Workers' Compensation Act, S.Nu. 2007, c. 15, as administered by WSCC. It does not address workers' compensation in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, or Yukon; see RecordingLaw's separate guides to those jurisdictions.

The System Here: One Commission, Two Acts

The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (WSCC) is genuinely one commission serving both territories, but it administers two separate statutes rather than a single shared law: the Workers' Compensation Act, SNWT 2007, c. 21, in force since April 1, 2008 in the Northwest Territories, and the Workers' Compensation Act, S.Nu. 2007, c. 15, in Nunavut. Every provision this article draws on was checked in both Acts and carries an identical section number in each -- a structural artifact of the two territories splitting from a single pre-1999 NWT statute and re-enacting parallel laws in 2007. Because the Nunavut text is a comparatively older consolidation, this article treats the current NWT Act as the primary reference and notes where Nunavut's numbering was cross-checked rather than independently confirmed at the most current text.

The Commission's mandate goes beyond compensation: it also administers the Safety Act (occupational health and safety legislation) in both territories, along with Mine Health and Safety Acts and Explosives Use Acts. The system runs on the usual no-fault principle -- section 90(1), headed "No action," bars an action for the recovery of compensation outside the Commission's process -- and appeals run through a two-tier Review Committee, then Appeals Tribunal structure that is distinct from the Commission itself.

Who Is Covered (and Who Isn't)

The practical registration threshold is one or more workers, including contractors, seasonal workers, part-time workers, and a non-resident working more than 10 days a year in either territory, triggering mandatory registration within 10 business days of starting operations. A narrow exemption is reported for temporary employers working 10 days or fewer who hire no territorial residents; an employer relying on that exemption should confirm current status directly with WSCC.

Filing a Claim: Worker and Employer Duties

Section 20(1), worded identically in both the NWT and Nunavut Acts, sets the worker's filing deadline: no person is entitled to compensation unless a claim is made to the Commission within 1 year after the day the personal injury, disease, or death occurs. Section 20(2) sets an unusually worker-favorable standard for exceptions: the Commission shall grant an exception to that limit if it considers there is a justifiable reason for the delay -- a mandatory duty to excuse a late claim once justified, not merely a discretionary power, which is a stronger protection than the "may extend" language used in several of the other jurisdictions in this series.

Section 17 requires the worker to report a personal injury, disease, or hazardous exposure to both the employer and the Commission as soon as is practicable, with no fixed number of days stated. On the employer side, section 18(2) requires a written report to the Commission within 3 days after the employer first has reason to believe the event occurred.

Benefits: 90% With a Low-Income Floor, and a New Split Maximum

Section 38(1), identical in both Acts, sets total-disability compensation at a monthly payment equal to 90% of the worker's net monthly remuneration, payable for the period of total disability. Section 38(2) adds a low-income floor mechanism worth flagging clearly: if the worker's monthly payment under the 90% formula would be less than 2.75% of the Year's Maximum Insurable Remuneration (YMIR) for the year of injury, the payment is increased to the lesser of (a) 100% of the worker's net monthly remuneration, or (b) 2.75% of the YMIR. In practice, that means lower-income workers can receive up to 100% of their earnings, tapering back toward the standard 90% as pre-injury earnings rise -- describing the rate as a flat, unqualified 90% understates what a lower-income worker may actually receive. Section 39 sets temporary partial disability compensation as the section 38 amount pro-rated by the Commission's estimated percentage loss of earning capacity.

For 2026, the two territories have separate maximum insurable earnings figures for the first time: $116,000 in the Northwest Territories and $117,300 in Nunavut. This is a genuinely new structure -- before 2025, both territories shared a single YMIR figure ($110,600 for 2024). WSCC introduced separate, territory-specific YMIR values effective January 1, 2025, based on changes to the average weekly earnings of each territory and a policy goal that at least 70% of each territory's workforce have earnings fully covered. Content describing a single shared figure for both territories is describing the pre-2025 rule.

Appeals: The Longest Deadlines in This Series

Both stages are extendable where a justifiable reason for delay is shown. This 3-year/3-year structure is dramatically longer than every other jurisdiction covered in this series -- Yukon's 1-year/1-year structure was already the longest among the others, and NWT/Nunavut roughly triples even that. A separate, parallel review-request right exists for employer-only assessment or classification matters under section 114; that track is distinct from the worker-claim track above.

Protection From Reprisals: A Genuine Gap, Filled by a Different Act

Unlike every other jurisdiction in this series, the Workers' Compensation Act itself, in both the NWT and Nunavut versions, contains no discrimination or reprisal clause and no re-employment obligation. The actual anti-discrimination protection in these territories lives in a separate statute WSCC also administers, the Safety Act (occupational health and safety legislation).

This is the single most currency-sensitive fact in this article, and it is stated here exactly as flagged by this article's research. The specific section relied on, section 22 of the Safety Act (R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. S-1, as applied in Nunavut), was read from a consolidation dated 2006. As read, section 22(1)(c) makes it an offence for an employer to discharge, suspend, discipline, or otherwise discriminate or threaten to discriminate against a person because that person testified or was about to testify in a Safety Act proceeding, gave information to the Board or a safety officer about workplace health or safety conditions, served as a safety committee member performing committee duties, or exercised the statutory right to refuse dangerous work. As with Yukon's parallel provision, these protected grounds are shaped around occupational-health-and-safety activity, not explicitly "filed a workers' compensation claim" -- whether a worker retaliated against purely for filing a wage-loss claim, with no hazard-reporting angle, falls within this protection is an open interpretive question this article does not resolve.

The remedy structure described in that 2006 text is also unusual relative to every other jurisdiction here: this is framed as a criminal offence, not a Commission complaint or civil process. As read, a conviction could carry a fine up to $500,000 or imprisonment up to 1 year, or both, and a court could additionally order the employer to cease the discriminatory action, pay lost-employment compensation up to the conviction date, reinstate the worker, and expunge the record of the discharge or discipline. Because the source consolidation for this section is roughly two decades old, a reader, employer, or advisor should treat the section number and every dollar figure in this paragraph as needing confirmation against a current Safety Act consolidation before relying on them, rather than as settled current law.

For workers' compensation in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon, see RecordingLaw's separate guides to Nova Scotia workers' compensation, New Brunswick workers' compensation, Prince Edward Island workers' compensation, Newfoundland and Labrador workers' compensation, and Yukon workers' compensation.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about the workers' compensation system in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. It addresses the Workers' Compensation Act, SNWT 2007, c. 21, and the Workers' Compensation Act, S.Nu. 2007, c. 15, as administered by WSCC, current as of the verification date above for the sections drawn from the current NWT consolidation. Several details rest on sources this article's research flagged as needing further confirmation: the Nunavut Act text used for cross-checking is an older consolidation rather than the most current official version; the Safety Act's anti-discrimination section and its dollar penalty figures were read from a 2006-dated consolidation and should be independently re-verified before being relied on; and the "10 days or fewer, non-resident-only" temporary-employer exemption is based on secondary guidance rather than a direct regulation read. Anyone with a workplace injury or a WSCC dispute should contact WSCC directly or consult a lawyer licensed in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut.