The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories is the Canadian federal government’s representative in Northwest Territories (NWT) and the territory's Chief Executive Officer. Similar in certain functions to a lieutenant governor, the Commissioner swears in the Members of the Legislative Assembly, swears in members of the Executive Council, assents to bills, opens sessions of the Legislative Assembly, and signs other government documents such as Orders in Council.

Earlier Commissioners were mostly Deputy Ministers in various ministries (Minister of the Interior, Mines, Mines and Resources)).

As Commissioners are appointed by the Canadian federal government it is a misnomer to consider the office the Monarch's viceregal representative in the territory--that is, unlike in Canada's provinces, there is no such thing as a "territorial Crown" analogous to the provincial Crowns. The Commissioner must follow any instructions of the Cabinet or the relevant federal minister, currently the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

Since 1980, the territories have had self-government, with the legislature choosing a Government Leader or Premier, in addition to electing Members of Parliament to the Parliament of Canada.

• Frederick D. White (24 August 1905 to 27 June 1919)
• William Wallace Cory (27 June 1919 to 17 February 1931)
• Hugh H. Rowatt (31 March 1931 to 30 April 1934)
• Roy A. Gibson (Acting) (1 May 1934 to 2 December 1936)
• Charles Camsell (3 December 1936 to 3 December 1946)
• Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside (14 January 1947 to 24 September 1950)
• Hugh Andrew Young (14 November 1950 to 15 November 1953)
• Robert Gordon Robertson (15 November 1953 to 12 July 1963)
• Bent Gestur Sivertz (12 July 1963 to 16 January 1967)
• Stuart Milton Hodgson (2 March 1967 to 6 April 1979)
• John Havelock Parker (15 April 1979 to 31 July 1989)
• Daniel L. Norris (2 October 1989 to 30 September 1994)
• Helen Maksagak (16 January 1995 to 26 March 1999)
• Daniel Joseph Marion (26 March 1999 to 31 March 2000)
• Glenna Hansen (31 March 2000 to 7 April 2005)
• Tony Whitford (29 April 2005 to 28 April 2010)
• George Tuccaro (28 May 2010 to 10 May 2016)
• Gerald W. Kisoun (Acting) (10 May 2016 to 18 September 2017)
• Margaret M. Thom (18 September 2017 to present)