Here are some of the N.W.T.’s biggest stories of 2025
Every year, CBC North publishes hundreds of stories online — breaking news, investigative reporting, political coverage, community features, longform storytelling, and much more.
Some of those stories reach a huge audience, with hundreds of thousands more readers than actually live in the North.
Here are a few of the biggest stories we reported on in the Northwest Territories last year.
Fort Providence and Whatı̀ evacuations
It was another difficult wildfire season for people living the Northwest Territories.
Just a few days apart, both Fort Providence and Whatı̀, N.W.T., residents were forced to leave their communities as wildfires came dangerously close.
Residents of both communities were able to return home eventually, but spent more than a week displaced.
Norman Wells state of emergency
As the Sahtu community struggled with sky-rocketing costs, MLA Danny McNeely brought forward a motion in February saying that rising food insecurity and heating costs, along with increasingly unreliable infrastructure for resupply, were making life and business in Norman Wells, N.W.T., extremely difficult.
The N.W.T. government said rising costs in Norman Wells didn’t meet the territory’s definition of an emergency, and that declaring a state of emergency in the Sahtu community wouldn’t help residents much anyway.
Months earlier, a local state of emergency had been declared by Norman Wells Town councillors.
Drugs crisis in N.W.T.
A sign outside of Kátł’odeeche First Nation, where 14 people were banned in an effort to address a growing drug crisis. (Marc Winkler/CBC )
A new “extremely toxic and unpredictable mixture” of opioids emerged from a crack cocaine sample in Hay River, N.W.T., this fall.
The territory’s chief public health officer said the sample came back positive for carfentanil, remifentanil, and cocaine — the first time this combination had been detected in cocaine in the territory.
Dr. Kami Kandola. warned residents about carfentanil mixed with powdered cocaine found in drugs seized in the community.
The warning came amid an ongoing drug crisis in the N.W.T., which has seen numerous drug busts this year and more than 20 non-fatal overdoses since October.
This month CBC North visited Hay River to speak with people affected by the crisis, including people who use drugs.
This is the first part of two shows the Trailbreaker dedicated to covering the growing drug crisis in Hay River The CBC’s Marc Winkler travelled there to talk to the people most affected. Marc joined host Shannon Scott in studio to talk about what he learned from people struggling with addictions, and people who are trying to maintain their sobriety.
Yellowknife mayor to federal cabinet minister
N.W.T. Liberal MP Rebecca Alty on election night on April 28. (Nadeer Hashmi/CBC)
After winning the federal Liberal seat in this spring’s election, former Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty was ushered into Prime Minsiter Mark Carney’s new cabinet.
Alty became the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations — the first N.W.T. MP to be appointed as a full cabinet minister with a portfolio.
This spring it was revealed that elevated lead levels were detected in the drinking water at two Yellowknife schools months before parents and staff were notified of the issue.
Since then, water from certain taps and fountains at many more schools have tested above the Canadian limit for acceptable lead levels. The N.W.T. government said it aims to test the water at all of the territory’s schools before the end of this academic year.
The government has also promised to provide alternative water sources while repairs and upgrades are made to the problematic water fixtures.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę celebrates self-government agreement in Norman Wells, N.W.T., CBC News
