Month In Review – Yukon

LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minimum Wage

Feb 5: Yukon is raising its general minimum wage from $17.94 to $18.51 per hour on April 1, based on a 3.2% increase in the 2025 Consumer Price Index for Whitehorse. The same 3.2% increase will apply to the separate wage rates for workers on Government of Yukon public works contracts listed in the 2026 Fair Wage Schedule.

Action Point: Find out how to avoid common payroll errors when implementing minimum wage increases.

New Laws

Feb 4: Yukon launched a new Forest Sector Fund offering financial support to commercial timber harvesters. The program is now accepting applications for the 2025 to 2026 season repaying expenses spent after November 3, 2025. Deadline to apply: March 20.

New Laws

Jan 26: Yukon announced new measures to support the territory's critical mining sector, including initiatives to develop new service standards, increase the transparency of the mining land use approvals and quartz mining licencing processes, and implement the safety recommendations of the Independent Review Board that examined the causes of the Eagle Gold Mine failure.

New Laws

Jan 21: Yukon announced that it's taking steps to ensure placer miners have the early spring access they need to mobilize equipment and prepare for operations. The government is also coordinating with the Canada Border Services Agency to align road access with the forecasted opening of the Little Gold Creek Border Crossing.

New Laws

Jan 15: Yukon paused new intakes to its micro-generation program indefinitely to conduct studies on ways to restore the stability and enhance the reliability of its electricity grid. The program was originally paused in December 2023 amid concerns about grid impacts and extended in January 2025 to assess necessary system upgrades for reliable integration of more intermittent renewables like solar and wind.

New Laws

Feb 2: Yukon will soon begin online posting of bid prices for publicly tendered, price-driven construction procurements on government websites. The objective of the new six-month pilot projects is to enhance the transparency and competitiveness of the government procurement process by allowing bid prices to be viewed electronically once submissions are unsealed. 

New Laws

Feb 4: Two Yukon businesses will receive contributions of $100,000 apiece from the federal CanNor program to expand capabilities for mineral exploration, resource management, and energy technology in the territory: Capital Exploration Ltd. for the acquisition of aeromagnetic geophysical survey equipment, and Solvest Inc. for the development and field testing of PowerPod, a modular battery energy storage system.

Health & Safety

Feb 10: Yukon's Chief Medical Officer of Health reports an increased number of cases of Pertussis (aka whooping cough), in the Territory. Pertussis is a contagious bacterial respiratory infection that spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes or has prolonged close face-to-face contact. The government is conducting contact tracing for contacts of known cases who are at highest risk, including pregnant individuals in their third trimester and infants under one year of age.

Action Point: Find out how to create a legally and clinically sound workplace Exposure Control Plan to protect your employees against the risk of whooping cough and other infectious illnesses.