Job prospects Registered Nurse - Extended Class (RN-EC) in Northwest Territories

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "registered nurse - extended class (RN-EC)" in Northwest Territories or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Northwest Territories

The recent trends from the past 3 years were updated on July 25, 2025. The job outlooks over the next 3 years were updated on December 10, 2025.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be Very good for registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (NOC 31301) in Northwest Territories for the 2025-2027 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

• Ongoing staffing shortages in health care and an ageing population will keep demand high for health professionals over the forecast period.
• Staffing shortages continue to lead to periodic disruptions in health care services throughout the Northwest Territories, especially in rural areas. The Government of Northwest Territories filled 340.3 of 360 full-time equivalent vacancies in 2024-2025 (NNSL, May 13, 2025).
• Local training is available for this occupation. Aurora College offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and a Licensed Practical Nurse program.
• A new professional organization for Northwest Territories and Nunavut nurses will be created in 2026: the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Nurses.
• The College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut updated its nursing practice hour requirements in 2025. To be licensed, nurses must now have 1,125 practice hours within the past five years or 450 practice hours within the past two years.

Here are some key facts about registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses in Northwest Territories:

• Approximately 400 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.
• Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Health care and social services (NAICS 62): 81%
  • Public Administration and Defence (NAICS 91): 19%
• 78% of registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses work all year, while 22% work only part of the year, compared to 71% and 28% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 47 weeks compared to 44 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 11% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 89% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: n/a
  • high school diploma or equivalent: less than 5% compared to 26% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 23% compared to 18% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 67% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 6% compared to 9% for all occupations

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

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