Development on the Line

Northwestel Keeps Northerners Talking Across a Continent.

Telecommunications and the Arctic are what Northwestel Inc. is all about. Their web site boldly claims that it is, “the first and only Northern-based company to provide telecommunications across the North.”

With head offices in both Yellowknife and Whitehorse, a regional office in Iqaluit, and upwards of 550 employees, it provides local employment in over 50 Northern communities.

Northwestel also provides reliable telecommunications to the mining industry including the Internet, managed Internet services, data solutions, as well as voice and collaboration tools like teleconferencing.  


“We understand that reliable telecommunications are critical to the efficient and productive operations of a mine, and to the safety of its workforce,” says Krista Prochazka, Northwestel’s Director, Government Relations. “Our Network Operations Control Centre monitors networks 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and our local presence means that issues are resolved quickly on the ground.” 
Innovation plays a key role in Northwestel’s strategy. A five-year modernization program and $260 million investment brought smart phone capabilities to all ground-serviced communities in the North. A satellite link program, called Tamarmik Nunaliit (which means Every Community) will bring those same services to almost every other community, says Prochazka. “When Tamarmik Nunaliit is completed in 2019, every community in Northern Canada except for one will have broadband and smart phone capabilities.”

Aboriginal Involvement

Investments in Indigenous communities are also important. Approximately 12 per cent of Northwestel’s workforce self-identifies as Indigenous. “Many of our jobs have preferential hiring for Indigenous applicants and we try to work with local governments and employment organizations to recruit,” says Prochazka. “For many positions, such as community service technicians and customer service representatives, Northwestel provides all required training and skills development on the job and ongoing. Most of our community service technician positions are based in remote communities, and not full time, and we work with employees to accommodate hunting, and other cultural activities.” 
The company has a generous corporate giving program that benefits Aboriginal communities. “Northwestel invests around $600,000 annually in support of events, youth, sport, arts, Indigenous culture and health care. We also invest significantly in support of mental health and wellness in partnership with our parent company Bell Canada.” Some examples of its Northern giving include:

• Annually, in recognition of National Aboriginal Day, Northwestel sponsors a community lunch in Whitehorse (stew and bannock) and Yellowknife (fish fry); and community celebrations in Iqaluit for Nunavut Day.

• Sponsors multiple Regional Government, Annual General Assemblies in the NWT; and in Yukon, the Council of Yukon First Nations General Assembly.

• Annually sponsors the Yukon First Nations Graduation and, for more than a decade, the Northwestel Summit and Yukon Indian Hockey Association (YIHA) ‘Learning to Lead’ Hockey Camp.

• Sponsors the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s Next 40 Youth Academic Conference in the Northwest Territories and Edmonton.

• Sponsors the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line in Nunavut.

Northwestel engages in many partnerships with Aboriginal communities. “We have eight partnerships/joint ventures with Indigenous businesses and institutions, bringing improved telecommunications to Canada’s North,” says Prochazka. “They include, for example, Falcon Communications, ATCO Frontec, Ardicom, Tahltan River Communications, and a partnership with Selkirk First Nation to service the Minto Mine.”