Details of changes to Yukon Nominee Program expected Thursday

The territorial government is set to reveal Thursday how the Yukon Nominee Program will be rolled out this year.

Premier Ranj Pillai said officials from the Department of Economic Development will brief reporters about the program, which has remained closed after the federal government cut the Yukon's allocation to 215 nominees — half of what it received in 2024.

"I'm really leaning on industry associations as well as exploring procedural improvements for the 2025 application intake. Again, where we can streamline but improve service standards," Pillai said.

The briefing will offer a look at how the government will respond to a letter from the federal auditor general in January. Though the office of the auditor general's (OAG) performance audit of the program has been suspended because of an RCMP investigation at a Yukon government office, its initial work turned up several perceived problems that the OAG said could be addressed right away.

Some of those problems include long processing times for applications and a lack of support for employers and workers.

Other concerns centred around fairness, with many believing that certain employers were being favoured, that identical applications were treated differently and that some employees at the department's immigration unit held significant influence over the programs.

The auditor also raised the perceived power imbalance between employers and nominees that could lead to abuse, as well as the perception that nominees have been overqualified for their jobs, making it less likely that they would stay with their employers and in the Yukon.

"From our discussions with various stakeholders, current and past nominees, as well as current and past employers, there is a consistent view that confidence in the Yukon Nominee Program and in the Yukon Business Nominee Program integrity is low," the letter states.

Yukon Party leader Currie Dixon raised the issues flagged by the office of the auditor general during Monday's question period. Drawing from its letter, he told reporters that the watchdog made suggestions to the program that demanded action.

"The auditor general lays [it] out very clearly. Their office says these kinds of programs are susceptible to fraud and corruption," he said. 

"This is serious stuff. We need to see confidence renewed in these programs because it doesn't exist right now."

The auditor general made four suggestions to the Department of Economic Development: evaluate whether the immigration branch has enough resources, consider mechanisms that would restore confidence in the programs, establish ways to improve the balance of power between employers and employees and determine if the nominee program addresses the Yukon's labour market needs.

Pillai said challenges with immigration programs in the Yukon have come up before and that his government is continuing to review the nominee program.

"It's really about ensuring that if there's things happening in our programs that need to be improved on, you have to invest in them. You have to make sure you make the changes," he said.

"So for us, I think it's about putting the right resources, being absolutely transparent about the changes we're making and [communicating] it to the public."