The Northwest Territories, one of Canada’s three territories located in the North of the country, is on track to meet its Canadian immigration targets for the next five years.

The territorial department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) has committed to increasing the number of employer driven applications under the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) by 25 percent each year over five years beginning in 2014. In 2014, the number of approved nominee applications increased by more than 50 percent from the previous year. This translates into 48 approved applicants plus 62 dependents, making a total of 110 people approved under the NTNP in 2014. The territory is expecting to surpass its target once again for 2015.

“This is great news for the territory, and over five years we project more than 800 new residents living in and contributing to the NWT economy. This initiative is a key component of our Growth Strategy, aimed at attracting 2,000 new residents to the Northwest Territories over the next five years,” announced Deputy Premier Jackson Lafferty in a statement to the Legislative Assembly in Yellowknife. The territory aims to attract Canadians from other parts of the country as well as international migrants.

“A growing, vibrant economy needs workers and, with our abundant natural resources, there are jobs emerging all the time, without people to fill them. A coordinated approach to immigration, our work force, and labour market will help improve economic and population growth, and increase opportunities for our residents,” he added.

The government of the Northwest Territories recently unveiled details of its Express Entry immigration stream for skilled workers, which is ed with the federal Express Entry immigration selection system. The addition of the Northwest Territories Express Entry stream provides another 100 available positions for potential candidates, in addition to the 150 currently available through the NTNP, bringing the total to 250 spots for candidates.

The Northwest Territories is the most populated of the three Canadian territories and has the highest GDP of all the provinces and territories in Canada.