The spring 2024 sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly has concluded

As the Spring 2024 session of the Yukon Legislative Assembly concludes, the Government of Yukon is proud of the significant progress made on key priorities for Yukoners in the areas of health, housing, education, affordability and reconciliation.

The Government of Yukon’s 2024–25 budget invests in the lives of all Yukoners and meets the needs of the growing territory. This year’s budget includes measures to address ongoing challenges associated with the cost of living, as well as actions which will help create healthy communities through infrastructure projects and improved health care services. It takes steps towards responding to the climate crisis, the Substance Use Health Emergency and other challenges, while making strategic investments in housing, education and reconciliation with Yukon First Nations.

The Government of Yukon made progress on several key files, including:

Building more housing for Yukoners

• investing $6.22 million in the construction of 78 new affordable homes through the seventh round of the Housing Initiatives Fund;
• investing $5 million in the winter crossing housing project in Whistle Bend, with the Yukon Housing Corporation leasing 75 units for a 20-year term;
• investing $4.843 million in affordable housing in five Yukon communities through the Housing Initiatives Fund;
• releasing 136 lots for lottery and tender in Whitehorse’s Whistle Bend neighbourhood;
• adding housing stock in Old Crow with the completion of a 10-plex and in Faro with the completion of an accessible duplex; and
• issuing a sale by tender for the development of Whitehorse’s 2 Klondike Road and the site of the former Korbo Apartments in Dawson City.

Building healthy communities

• securing nearly $86 million in federal funding to expand primary health care services, support long-term care, home, care and community care, respond to the Substance use Health Emergency and to recruit and retain health care professionals;
• providing the Yukon Medical Association with $140,000 to enhance its physician recruitment program and hire a Medical Advisory to support the development of a medical residency program;
• signing a four-year funding agreement with the Government of Canada through the Foreign Credential Recognition Project to support the integration of internationally-educated health professionals in the Yukon;
• hiring 198 nurses, including 145 Registered Nurses and 53 Licensed Practical Nurses, lowering the community nursing vacancy rate to 15 per cent from 47 per cent;
• issuing a design and construction tender for the replacement of the Dawson Recreation Centre;
• offering the City of Whitehorse $2.4 million to launch a curbside recycling program for residents and providing the City with the assurance that the Government of Yukon would only approve a program under EPR that includes blue box collection within the City of Whitehorses Urban Containment Boundary;
• increasing Comprehensive Municipal Grant funding for a total of $24.5 million transferred to municipalities on April 1, 2024;
• supporting ten Yukon-based women’s and gender equity-seeking non-governmental organizations through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence;
• signing a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Forces Health Services to support the Yukon’s health care workforce;
• opening a new community space in the Jim Smith Building to provide access to crucial support services and advance the Downtown Whitehorse Safety Response Plan;
• joining the Government of Canada’s coordinated vaping product taxation framework, through assent of the Coordinated Vaping Product Taxation Agreement Act, in order to keep tax revenue in the territory and reduce vaping rates; and
• opening an online reservation system pilot project for campsites at four frontcountry campgrounds.

Investing in our territory’s future

• receiving funding from the Government of Alaska through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to fund upgrades on the north Alaska Highway starting next year;
• doubling acquisition funding for the Yukon Permanent Art Collection and acquiring 14 new works of art through a call for submissions process;
• creating the Yukon Fund to provide long-term financial benefits to future generations of Yukoners by harnessing revenue from historic oil and gas activities in the Beaufort Sea;
• finalizing the Animal Protection and Control regulations to support community safety and protect animal welfare;
• beginning reconstruction of the main runway, installing improved lighting, building additional airport facilities, and making other vital upgrades to improve reliability and safety of the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport;
• reducing fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by installing solar panels and battery energy storage systems at the Klondike and Ogilvie maintenance camps along the Dempster Highway;
• completing a retrofit of the exterior of Whitehorse’s Elijah Smith Elementary School, installing a new roof, vapour barrier and insulation, replacing 122 windows and updating 90,000 square feet of exterior surface area;
• launching the Spark Tourism Micro-grant to support budding entrepreneurs in the Yukon’s tourism industry; and
• improving bilateral relations with the Government of Alaska through regular meetings with state leadership.

Making life more affordable

• passing the Exemptions Act to allow Yukoners filing for bankruptcy to keep more of their assets so they are able to rebuild their financial futures;
• holding 2024 rural property taxes at the same level as last year;
• introducing the Canada-Yukon Housing Homeowner Benefit to provide eligible Whitehorse recipients with up to $1,000 and Yukoners living outside Whitehorse to receive $1,500;
• introducing the Yukon Disaster Financial Assistance Program to help Yukoners recover financially from natural disasters; and
• expanding the Yukon Housing Corporation’s Home Repair Program to accept applications year-round; and
• expanding clean transportation rebates to include commercial medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, boats, all-terrain vehicles and other modes of electric transportation.

Advancing reconciliation

• establishing the Yukon’s first health authority, Shäw Kwä’ą/Health and Wellness Yukon/Santé et mieux-être Yukon, which will take significant steps to creating an effective, integrated, and population-centred health and social services system based on equity and respect;
• working with the Gwich’in Tribal Council, the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, and the Government of Canada to explore the possibility of a new national park in the Peel watershed;
• funding the Association of Yukon Municipalities’ Chiefs and Mayors Forum to facilitate increased cooperation between municipal and First Nations leadership;
• signing an agreement with Yukon-based West End Developments to develop the land parcel at 5th and Rogers in Whitehorse for residential and commercial use; and
• continuing to work in partnership with Yukon First Nations governments through regular meetings of the Yukon Forum.