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Clarify confusion over nominee program, YG urged

The Yukon Party official Opposition isn’t happy with Premier Ranj Pillai’s recent comments on the status of the Yukon Nominee Program.

On May 16, the Yukon government announced it had put the program on hiatus until next year after being overrun with applications.

The Yukon Party wants the premier to “clear the  air” over comments he made Monday.

“Premier Ranj Pillai accused the media and a Whitehorse business owner of ‘spreading misinformation’ about the program,” the Yukon Party said Wednesday.

“The premier then went on CBC Yukon and made his allegations against the media and the business owner. The premier also blamed the federal government for capping the number of applications.” 

The party said it has some questions:

  • The announcement indicated Whitehorse applications were being shut down because of a backlog of applications, however, the premier claimed it was because of the cap. Why is the government still accepting applications for rural Yukon if a cap is the  reason Whitehorse shut down? 
  • How did the Yukon get to 600 applications, if the cap is 430? 
  • Why was this not an issue last year, when the allocations were surpassed?  

“It is concerning to see so many questions around a program that is so important to businesses and Yukoners,” said party leader Currie Dixon. “It is equally concerning to see the premier go on local radio and attack the media and a private business owner. I hope the premier will clear the air and apologize to the business owner and media outlets.” 

The official Opposition’s statements sparked a response from the Yukon government later Wednesday.

“Our government will continue to correct the record when it comes to misinformation around the program pause, including the misinformation being spread by the Yukon Party caucus and party leader Currie Dixon,” said cabinet communications director Jordan Owens.

“The yearly allocation of the number of spots available in the Yukon is set by the Government of Canada. For 2024, the Government of Yukon was allocated 430 nominees by the federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. 

“In past years, the Government of Canada has indicated that additional nominee positions would follow later in the year if other jurisdictions have not used their allocations,” Owens said.

“Therefore, Yukon Nominee Program applications were left open this year, as they have been in past years, to fill the spots that would theoretically be redistributed by Canada to the Yukon later in the year.”

Indications from other jurisdictions show that provinces and territories are using their full number of annual allocations, she added.

“Therefore, it is not anticipated that we will receive any further allocations from the federal government. This puts the Government of Yukon in a situation where there is both a backlog in processing the applications we have received, and where we have exceeded the number of spots available, as we now understand that no additional allocations will be provided by the federal government,” Owens said.

The governments of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Alberta have implemented similar pauses to their nominee programs due to “overwhelming demand in those jurisdictions,” Owens said.

“Our government believes it was prudent to communicate the current application numbers and the existence of a backlog to employers using the program, in order to give them a realistic opportunity to address their labour needs this year. It is unfortunate that the Yukon Party would prefer to keep employers in the dark, but this is not dissimilar to the way they withheld information from the public when they were in government.”

The government does agree with Dixon on one point, Owens said – “‘it is concerning to see so many questions around a program that is so important to businesses and Yukoners,’ and we will continue to communicate in real time to businesses and workers about the programs and services that impact them.”

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