SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Despite concerns raised in the legislative assembly, the GNWT hopes to hire the same number of summer students as it did last year.

Tom Williams: deputy minister of Human Resources says GNWT aims to match last year's level for hiring summer students. - NNSL file photo

"In 2010, we hired 263 students. So certainly our goal this year is to try to achieve the same," said Tom Williams, deputy minister with the Department of Human Resources.

Williams noted that, as of May 18, various GNWT departments had hired 161 summer students.

Summer student employment was a hot topic in the legislative assembly on May 18.

Human Resources Minister Bob McLeod and other ministers were peppered with questions about their plans to hire summer students.

"Members are very concerned about the hiring of northern students returning to work in the NWT for the summer," said Nehendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche in the assembly.

Noting the Department of Human Resources hired 16 students last year, Menicoche asked McLeod how many it had hired this year.

The minister replied nine students have been hired, but his department is committed to matching the 16 students it hired last year.

Other ministers were similarly questioned by other MLAs about their departments' hiring plans.

"Certainly, as everybody is well aware, there are a number of budgetary pressures on the government," Williams said. "It's always challenging, but we encourage departments to hire as many students as we can."

The deputy minister noted that, if there is a decrease in hiring for a particular department, that would be based on its availability of resources.

So far this year, the hiring of summer students has been a little slower than last year, the deputy minister said. "But we still hope to achieve our goal of at least matching last year's numbers."

Williams noted each department is responsible for its own hiring.

"Each department has their own budget that they have to look at and try to identify funds that could be used for summer student hiring," he said.

The Department of Human Resources facilitates the hiring process. Students register with the department on a summer student database.

Williams said hiring summer students is a good investment in the future.

"This is our future workforce, so we do want to at least hire as many as we can every year," he said.

The hired students are either attending a post-secondary institution or have been accepted to one for the fall.

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