Last spring, the Nunavut government gave the firms another year to get in line with a 51 per cent Inuit or Nunavut-ownership requirement.

The deadline is March 31 and it is unlikely to be extended again, said Ross Mrazek, GN deputy minister of public works.

"I don't think there will be another extension."

Mrazek said a rumour circulating in Iqaluit last week that changes were pending to the GN's Nunavummi Nangminiqaatunik Ikajuuti (NNI) policy -- which gives a bidding advantage to Inuit and Nunavut-owned companies -- is unfounded.

"I don't know where this is coming from. There will be a meeting of the (NNI review) committee in February to look at proposals from some of the companies, but there has been no decision made," he said. "And at this point there have been no changes."

About 20 companies are involved, said Mrazek. They include high-profile firms such as the Royal Bank, NorthwesTel and Canadian North.

The GN's decision last spring to grant a one-year grace period to the companies drew an angry reaction from the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Charging that the GN had bowed to big business, NTI president Cathy Towtongie said at the time the extension violated both the land claims agreement and the NNI policy itself.

The NTI dropped a lawsuit against the government last summer when the GN promised there would be no further extension beyond the March 31 deadline.

Canadian North is one per cent short of the NNI policy's 51 per cent Inuit ownership requirement. The company asked the NNI review committee last fall to take into account its aboriginal ownership structure.

"Canadian North is 50 per cent owned by the Inuit of Nunavut, and 50 per cent by the Inuvialuit of the western Arctic," said Canadian North spokesperson Cathy Brewster.

"We are 100 per cent aboriginal-owned. We feel that we should be recognized by the government of Nunavut because of our ownership structure, even though we fall one per cent short of the 51 per cent Inuit requirement."

With the deadline just weeks away, the airline has yet to hear from the Nunavut government on its concerns, said Brewster.