Aboriginal Community Incomes and Migration in the NWT: Policy Issues and Alternatives

This paper examines the likely impact of induced migration from smaller communities to larger centres in the event of further cuts in federal expenditures in the NWT. With the exception of a few communities located near mineral resource industries, government employment and transfer payments provide the major source of cash income for most aboriginal communities. This income is critical as a source of money to invest in machinery and equipment to enhance the cash and in-kind income from traditional activities. However, promoting migration to larger centres would increase dependence by reducing access to these traditional sources of income, and by increasing the need for government subsidies to provide housing in the larger centres at a time when adequate housing already exists in smaller communities. Policy alternatives to migration are discussed.