How to Start Things in the Northwest Territories

Operating under a business name? You must register it with Corporate Registries

If you run a business in the Northwest Territories under any name other than your own exact legal name, you must register that business name with the Corporate Registries office in the Department of Justice. The only exemption is a sole proprietor trading under their own legal name; incorporated companies register instead under the Business Corporations Act. Before picking a name you can search existing registrations yourself through the free Corporate Registries Online System, and paid deep searches unlock the full filed documents.

Source: Justice NWT: Business registrations

Minimum wage is $17.20 - set by formula, not by politics

The Northwest Territories minimum wage rose from $16.95 to $17.20 an hour on September 1, 2026. Since 2022 the territory has set the rate by an annual formula tied to Yellowknife's Consumer Price Index and the change in the NWT's average hourly wage - 2026 was the fourth consecutive year of formula-based increases. The formula can raise the floor but never lower it: if the numbers came out lower, the existing rate would simply stay where it is.

Source: Government of NWT: minimum wage set to increase Sept 1, 2026

No territorial sales tax - 5% GST only

The Northwest Territories levies no territorial sales tax, so the only sales tax on taxable supplies is the 5% federal GST administered by the CRA. That puts the territory in the same GST-only group as Yukon, Nunavut, and Alberta, and makes invoicing simpler than in PST provinces: one rate, one agency, no separate territorial registration.

Source: Tax-Services.ca: GST/HST in Canada

Register with the WSCC within 10 business days of your first hire

Any employer with one or more workers in the Northwest Territories must register with the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission within ten business days, under section 8 of the Workers' Compensation Act - note it is business days, not calendar days. One quirk worth knowing: the WSCC is a shared board covering both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, so one WSCC registration covers your workers in either territory. Temporary employers operating under 10 days a year may be exempt; everyone else faces penalties for failing to register.

Source: WSCC: Register your Business