In 2000, the Governments of the NWT and of Canada enacted the five-year Cooperation Agreement for French and Aboriginal Languages in the NWT. This agreement extended federal support to official Aboriginal languages in the NWT as well as French, with $4.35M going directly to Aboriginal communities over five years, and financial support for GNWT language services as well. The independent consultants who authored this report were hired in 2003 in order to evaluate the Agreement’s implementation, operations, progress, strengths, challenges, and recommend changes. The evaluation team conducted a literature review, key informant interviews, focus groups, and case study evaluations.

The evaluators made several practical recommendations following their investigation.
Fist, local leadership must play a role in making sure a project meets community needs and is receiving community support; second, local in-kind contributions and volunteerism must be encouraged to supplement local projects; third, activities must be engaging and locally relevant; and fourth, projects need stable government support, simplified application processes, and equitable treatment to succeed. Overall, the evaluators found that the agreement was well-liked and generally well administered, but needed to emphasize coordination between all levels of government, families, and community leadership. While language coordinators were generally well aware of the agreement and its funding implications, this awareness did not typically extend to the rest of a community or region.

Read the original agreement: https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/sites/ece/files/resources/nwt_agreement_2016-2020.pdf

Access this Resource: 

Terriplan Consultants and Martin Spigelman Research. Canada-NWT Cooperation Agreement for French and Aboriginal Languages in the Northwest Territories, Final Evaluation Report. Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and Canadian Heritage, March 2004.