Land north of Frame Lake a ‘priority land transfer initiative’ say City, GNWT

The Government of the Northwest Territories and the City of Yellowknife are prioritizing work on the transfer of the Frame Lake land parcel to the City, supporting the City’s long-term planning and community development objectives, it was announced on Wednesday.

This 41-hectare parcel — from the north shore of Frame Lake to Highway 3 — is one of the priority land transfer initiatives outlined in the Memorandum of Collaboration signed between ECC and the City in June 2025, stated a release.

The GNWT stated the document targets the transfer of specific parcels as individual transactions.

This allows for bylaw development, budgeting and surveying at localized and more cost-effective scales.

The City and GNWT stated that consultation and engagement activities have been completed with Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, and other affected parties.

The priority transfer of the Frame Lake land parcel process from now:

• A land sale agreement has been prepared and is in the process of being signed by all parties.
• The City is also planning to complete a legal survey of the parcel this fall, which is a key step before the transfer can be finalized.
• Before the transfer process can be completed, the City must also pass a land acquisition bylaw (in the works) and ensure the parcel’s intended use aligns with the City’s Community Plan (which is still under construction as this council’s mandate runs out in October).
• Once all legislative and administrative requirements have been met, the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, on behalf of the Crown, is responsible for granting the parcel to the City.
• Then, the Land Titles Office will issue a certificate of title to the City, formally completing the transfer.

City Council is still mulling over the proposed community plan, which is taking a very proactive approach to housing development and doing so on Commissioner’s land within city boundaries.

Yellowknife is now projected to have a growth surge, with its tight housing market being a potential speed bump. The new land could be home for perhaps 1,000 homes.

The long-awaited improvements to the land transfer process — which was at times apparently stalled, and came under frequent criticism as the housing crisis worsened — was made possible with additional capacity in the GNWT’s Land Management division, read the release.

This north of Frame Lake plan was first made public on in July 2025. It was noted then that a study highlighted the need for more one- and two-bedroom apartments as well as dwellings with three or four-bedrooms.

Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse was pleased to see City Council approve first and second readings of the land acquisition bylaw for the Frame Lake parcel today.

“Access to land has been a longstanding issue dating back to when I was on council, and I have since been advocating for improvements to the land transfer process as an MLA,” he stated in a social media post.

“I met with ECC (Environment and Climate Change ) staff earlier this week for an update on this issue and was happy to hear about the progress they had made on getting this large parcel transferred to the City.”

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jay Macdonald called the impending transfer of the Frame Lake land parcel, “an important milestone in fulfilling our commitments to increase the supply of land for housing throughout the territory.”

He continued: “The transfer also supports the City of Yellowknife’s long-term planning objectives and helps ensure we are ready as a territory for the opportunities of tomorrow.”

Mayor Ben Hendriksen referenced the population and economic growth, noting that, “access to developable land provides greater ability to plan for that growth … while creating new economic opportunities for everyone who call these lands home.

“Frame Lake represents an important opportunity to expand that capacity and support thoughtful, sustainable growth for our community.”

Athletes need accommodation; developers need land; ball is in GNWT’s court:

City council has also linked successful GNWT land transfers to the City’s support — which includes a capital contribution of about $3 million — of further development of a bid to host the 2035 Canada Winter Games.

In a successful motion on October 22nd, moved by Councillor Rob Foote and seconded by Councillor Rob Warburton, the final of eight potential deal-breaker provisions stated:

8. Current applications for Commissioner lands do not progress, and the City is unable to meet the need for housing of athletes and other visitors during the games, or housing for Yellowknifers as a legacy asset after the Games.