Recovering After a Workplace Injury in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut: A Complete Guide

In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut there's essentially no court to appeal to. The legislation removes judicial review for most WSCC and Appeals Tribunal decisions, leaving only narrow grounds such as a denial of natural justice. Two internal levels are the whole of your recourse, which makes getting the first one right matter more here than anywhere else in Canada.
Hurt in a car crash rather than at work? The northern territories are covered by our car accident recovery guide for the territories, which runs on an entirely separate system with its own deadlines.

What should I do first after a workplace injury in NWT or Nunavut?

Tell your employer, then see a health professional and say the injury happened at work. Your employer is required by law to report a workplace incident to the WSCC even if you lose no time from work, so a report should exist regardless. What to do after a workplace injury in Canada walks through the first steps that apply wherever you were hurt.

Then call the Workers' Advisor Office before you do anything formal. There's a statistic below that explains why, and it's the most persuasive number in this entire series of pages.

Read next. How much workers compensation pays in Canada, every 2026 rate and ceiling in one table. Injury claim denied in Canada, how to read the decision letter before you respond. Emotional recovery after an injury, the part nobody puts on a form.

Why call the Workers' Advisor Office first?

The Workers' Advisor Office serves both territories and is the only Workers' Advisor office in Canada covering two jurisdictions. It's free and it acts for you.

In 2024 the office reported that 93 percent of the files it resolved never needed to enter a formal review or appeal at all. Of the twelve Review Committee decisions it received that year, the outcome was favourable to the worker in every one.

Read that as an argument about sequence rather than about luck. Most problems in this system are solvable at the claims level by someone who knows what to ask for. The office starts by obtaining and reading your WSCC file, then tells you what your options actually are.

One honest caveat. The office may decline to take a case further where there are no grounds, usually a lack of objective medical evidence or no statutory entitlement. That's worth knowing in advance, and it's also the clearest possible argument for having medical evidence on your file.

What are the two levels of appeal?

Level What it is
Review Committee Internal to the WSCC. First level. Can maintain, reverse or change your case manager's decision
Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal Independent of the WSCC. Second and final level
The courts Largely closed by statute

The Appeals Tribunal can only hear appeals of Review Committee decisions, so the sequence can't be skipped. A hearing is normally heard by a single Tribunal member, though the Chairperson may appoint a panel of three. In most cases you get the kind of hearing you ask for, written or in person.

Time limits are set out in the Workers' Compensation Acts and on the Request for Review form itself. Because they're the hinge of everything and there's little room to recover from a miss, confirm yours against the form or with the Workers' Advisor Office rather than from memory. Our Northwest Territories appeal and review deadlines and Nunavut appeal and review deadlines pages carry the detail for each territory, and Injury claim denied in Canada covers how to read the decision letter itself before you respond to it.

What should be in my file before I request a review?

Everything, and this is the Workers' Advisor Office's own advice. It's the single most useful instruction on this page. A review takes time, and before you start one you want all the relevant information already in your WSCC file.

You're entitled to a copy of your claim file at any time. The request has to be in writing, using the Request for Disclosure form, returned to your case manager. The WSCC then emails a link to a PDF copy.

Two things follow from that. Read your own file before you appeal rather than after. Remember too that where a worker is the appellant, the employer may participate in the review and receives copies of all the documents used in it, so write everything as though it'll be read by the other side, because it will be.

What should I be writing down?

Three things, and the closed courthouse door raises the stakes on all of them.

  • Objective medical evidence, and every date you sought it. This is what determines whether anyone can help you, including the Workers' Advisor Office.
  • Every symptom you reported and to whom. With two levels and no court behind them, a symptom that never reached the file has nowhere left to go.
  • Every conversation with your case manager. Date, who, what was said, what was promised. Most matters here resolve at the claims level, and that's where these conversations happen.

Our free Resource Hub has fillable trackers for symptoms, appointments, correspondence and return to work. Why documenting your recovery matters explains what a record actually does once a decision is contested.

Who can help me for free?

Workers' Advisor Office for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Free, acts for the worker and the first call to make.

WSCC Review Committee. Yellowknife 867-920-3888 or toll free 1-800-661-0792, ReviewCommittee@wscc.nt.ca. Iqaluit 867-979-8500 or toll free 1-877-404-4407. The Request for Review form is also available in French.

Appeals Tribunal. 867-669-4420 or toll free 1-888-777-8167, in Yellowknife. Their guidance is at appealstribunal.ca.

The WSCC publishes both review processes. If you're weighing legal options, speak to a lawyer licensed in the NWT or Nunavut, because the Workers' Advisor Office doesn't give legal advice.

What else is worth reading?

These go deeper on the parts of a claim people ask about most.

More in Workplace Injury Recovery and Appointments and Assessments.

Which guides do I actually need?

The two guides do different jobs and each is weaker alone. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide holds the daily record: your symptoms, your appointments, your calls and your costs, the things no one can reconstruct from memory once a review is under way. Your territorial Companion Guide holds the system: the deadlines, the forms, the WSCC contacts and the two appeal levels, in plain language. With only the record you have no map. With only the map you have nothing to put on it.

Choose the guide for the territory where you were hurt. The Northwest Territories Workplace Injury Companion Guide and the Nunavut Workplace Injury Companion Guide each pair with the national guide for $49, an instant download you can start filling in today.

Northwest Territories system for $49 → Nunavut system for $49 →
If your injury happened in a vehicle rather than at work, you need the other side of the shelf. Start with the territories car accident guide and the National MVA Recovery Guide.

Last verified July 2026 against the WSCC, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal and the Workers' Advisor Office 2024 annual report. We re-check these pages quarterly. If you find something wrong here, write to Recovery@hurtsquare.ca and we will correct it publicly.

This page is general information for people in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It's not legal or medical advice. Confirm anything specific to your situation with the Workers' Advisor Office, the WSCC or a lawyer licensed in your territory.