Our Plan for Yukon's Economy

The Yukon Party is revealing its plans to support Yukoners’ innovative and entrepreneurial foundation by announcing measures to revitalize socio-economic growth throughout the Yukon.

We will unleash the territory’s private sector by supporting a vibrant, viable tourism and sport event destination and improving the current procurement process to be more business-friendly for both large and small local contractors.

A Yukon Party government will support the private sector to lead the territory’s present and future economic health, reducing bureaucratic red tape by:

• Developing and implementing a Red Tape Reduction Strategy to measure and report on the current burden, create targets for reductions and begin removing unnecessary red tape and regulations.
• Implementing a one-for-one rule, which will require the territorial government to remove one existing regulation for each new one it imposes, while not impacting health or safety.
• Pausing and reassessing the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, which is imposing increasing costs and burdens on small businesses and working with the City of Whitehorse for an interim solution to curbside recycling.

The Yukon Party will revitalize the responsible development of the territory's natural resources by:

• Completing the modernization of mining legislation by working with First Nation governments and the responsible mining industry to create a legislative framework for the territory’s largest private sector industry to explore for, develop and operate mines responsibly while respecting and engaging Yukon First Nations.
• Increasing resource royalty retention by working with Yukon First Nations and the Government of Canada to retain more resource royalties for Yukoners and prioritizing benefits for communities most affected by projects.
• Streamlining assessments and licensing by establishing policies to ensure territorial government departments meet legislated timelines and restore confidence with predictable, fair processes in collaboration with Canada, Yukon First Nations and industry.
• Implementing changes to the inspections and compliance regime to ensure that mines are operating safely and in a manner that ensures future generations are left with strong economic legacies rather than environmental liabilities.

The Yukon Party will diversify and grow the private sector by:

• Exploring the privatization of cannabis distribution and working with the industry to support retailers in displacing the black market.
• Reviewing the price model for the Yukon Liquor Corporation and modernizing liquor licensing to allow for more innovation and better support for the hospitality industry.
• Using government procurement to support agriculture, agri-food businesses, and the local food sector to grow, thrive and increase opportunities for export.
• Addressing regulatory barriers to producing, sharing and distributing food.
• Ensuring the forest resources sector and log home builders have sufficient access to timber and forest resources by creating a Yukon Forestry Strategy.
• Maintaining film and sound industry supports to ensure a vibrant film and sound industry while reviewing existing programs with partners to address long-term growth in the sector.
• Working with the technology sector to explore the development of policies related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Supporting the Yukon’s digital industry to strengthen the resiliency and capacity necessary to protect the territory’s digital infrastructure and service delivery.

The Yukon Party will also examine the feasibility of allowing businesses to accelerate the depreciation of their capital assets at a faster rate. This measure would encourage investment, drive job creation and support growth across key sectors such as mining, manufacturing, renewable energy and housing.

We will promote tourism and sport by:

• Positioning the Yukon as a destination for sports and major games by conducting long-term planning with sports organizations and municipalities to ensure the territory has adequate sport infrastructure, including ice, gym spaces and fields.
• Developing a Sport Tourism Strategy to enhance the territory’s ability to host major games and ensure access to practical and functional sport infrastructure.
• Improving access to publicly owned sport infrastructure, such as school gyms and fields, for sports and recreation groups.
• Ensuring capital planning for new or expanded schools addresses the need for gym space.
• Working with the Government of Canada to expand the hours of operation of the Yukon’s borders to help support tourism and match the needs of the territory’s economy.
• Working with the tourism industry, the City of Whitehorse and proponents to develop a viable business model for the proposed Whitehorse Convention Centre.

The Yukon Party will also improve the territory’s procurement process and subsequently support local businesses by:

• Using territorial government procurement to enhance local contracting opportunities and, working with Yukon First Nation governments and industry, to adjust the First Nations Procurement Policy to ensure it is meeting its intended goals.
• Returning to the practice of publicly opening bids.
• Ceasing the current Vendor Performance Review Program and working with the Yukon Contractors’ Association to ensure territorial government procurement policies translate into value-for-money for Yukon taxpayers.
• Ensuring that Yukon Government officials tasked with procurement are provided with sufficient training, oversight and support.
• Utilizing the modernization of Yukon Government IT and technology systems to spur economic opportunities in the local economy.

A Yukon Party government will support infrastructure to help build the territory’s economy and support growth by:

• Improving the oversight of major infrastructure projects with a focus on ensuring accountability and transparency, while streamlining processes to speed up implementation.
• Actualizing earlier tendering of seasonally dependent capital projects by utilizing the Yukon Government's Fall budgeting process.
• Working with the Government of Canada to prioritize roads to resources projects through the Yukon Resource Gateway Program and fully expending the allocated funds by 2029 to support the economy and enhance the territory’s economy, and its attractiveness for investment from both within and outside the Yukon.
• Revitalizing the Rural Roads Program and the Resource Roads Program.
• Utilizing infrastructure spending to create opportunities for smaller contractors by ensuring that contracts are appropriately scoped.