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Yukon’s opposition parties unveiled their campaign platforms with the territorial New Democrats pledging millions in new programming if they’re elected next month, while the Yukon Party is promising a prospering private sector.
The NDP said it will pay for tuition for students in health care and education programs at Yukon University if they agree to work in the territory for five years after graduation.
Leader Kate White said the university offers teaching and early childhood education programs and is exploring an expansion for registered nursing.
The territorial program that allows Yukon licensed practical nurses to obtain a bachelor of nursing degree virtually through the University of New Brunswick would also be covered, White said in an interview on Thursday.
“It will also have expansion as we go forward, because it’s going to be making sure that those critical positions are filled,” she said.
Leader Currie Dixon said his Yukon Party believes government needs to create conditions for a “thriving and prosperous private sector,” and is promising to release more land for housing, while also adding continuing care facilities and expanding Whitehorse’s hospital.
“The Yukon Party is presenting a realistic, achievable plan. One that is also bold and ambitious to tackle the challenges we collectively face,” Dixon told a news conference Thursday at a Whitehorse construction site.
Both parties are hoping to replace the current Liberal government when voters go to the polls on Nov. 3.
The Liberals have been in power since 2016, most recently as a minority government supported by a confidence agreement signed with the NDP.
Both the Liberals and the Yukon Party had eight seats in the legislature before the election was called, and the NDP had three. This election will be the first with an expanded 21 ridings.
The NDP platform said its promises will be paid for in part with a two per cent tax on those who fly in and out of the territory for work but file their taxes elsewhere.
The NDP is the only territorial party that includes costs with its platform, estimating nearly $90 million in new investments this year if it is elected, but Dixon said his party’s plans are practical, realistic and achievable.
“We don’t need to finance these types of commitments with significant new tax hikes that we see from other parties, and we believe it can all be included within the existing fiscal framework of the territory,” he said.
The Yukon Party platform said it will remove all land transfer fees to reduce the cost of homes and introduce incentives to build more rentals.
White said it was important to her that the NDP platform be costed so voters know there is a plan.
She said the payroll tax would be similar to a program in place in the Northwest Territories.
“When someone lives out of territory, they pay their income tax in another jurisdiction, and it doesn’t benefit the collective, right? It doesn’t pay for the infrastructure or the programs that we need,” she said.
Dixon said the territory has seen record levels of spending and debt under the minority government, meaning there are “difficult decisions” to make.
He said his platform makes no mention of public service layoffs but growth of the Yukon government “needs to be constrained” because it’s unsustainable.
“But what we want to see is growth, and we want to see growth driven by the private sector, not the government.”
Other promises in the NDP platform include a universal school nutrition program, a 50-unit medical travel lodge offering free stays for people coming to Whitehorse for care, and a pledge to raise mining royalties.
Current placer mining royalty rates in the territory are 2.5 per cent of the cost of an ounce of gold in 1906.
“For folks outside of the territory, in 1906 an ounce of gold was $15. So, Yukon currently collects 37 and a half cents an ounce of gold. Last year, Yukon government collected $36,000 from placer royalties,” she said.
Yukon government documents show the industry reported a production revenue of $230 million that year.
The Yukon Liberal party revealed its platform last week, with promises including a $300-million hospital expansion and a reduction in the waiting list for government housing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025.
Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
