SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A "perfect storm" of aging residents and a declining NWT population is threatening the territory's workforce and has prompted the government to focus tourism dollars on attracting young professionals from southern Canada.

An unprecedented shift in marketing strategy has the GNWT touting the benefits of living in the territory permanently rather than adventure opportunities for tourists. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment launched ads on radio, billboards, buses and newspapers across northern Ontario on April 8, urging residents of North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins to "come make your mark" in the NWT.

Sonya Saunders, the department's director of investment and economic analysis, said the territory is in the middle of a critical labour shortage.

"Baby boomers are going to be retiring soon and they're not being replaced in the workforce," Saunders said.

"We currently do have a lot of employers looking for staff, unable to fill positions, and that's only going to get worse."

For two years in a row, the NWT has been the only jurisdiction in Canada to experience a decrease in population. The population of the territory on Jan. 1, 2010 was 43,281, a decrease of 138 people from 2009.

This is troubling, Saunders said, because much of the NWT's finances come from federal funding agreements, which are doled out on a per capita basis.

"When our population decreases, we can expect our funding to correspondingly decrease, but the demand for services is not decreasing."'

The first part of the nearly $2 million ad campaign targets recent graduates, recent retirees looking to start a new career and skilled workers in every field - as well as the families of those potential employees - who currently live in northern Ontario.

"There are a number of people there who are currently looking for employment and have the kinds of skill sets that we think we're looking for in the Northwest Territories," she said.

"As well, it's an area of the country that's very similar to the Northwest Territories in terms of climate and what sorts of things people like to do."

In months ahead, the department, partnering with local businesses, the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the NWT Association of Communities, plans to expand the ads to other areas of the country.

Though she couldn't approximate how many workers are needed in the territory to make up for the labour shortage, Saunders said even if every current NWT resident was trained and working, the workforce would still come up short.

"That still remains the government's number one priority, training people who are already here and retaining the current workforce, but it's not going to be enough. So this is to fill in that gap."