ADVOCACY UPDATE TO MEMBERSHIP
July 29, 2025
July was a busy month for the Chamber’s advocacy efforts at all levels of government. We engaged with municipal, territorial, and federal partners on key issues to support our business community’s needs. Below is a summary of our work, for the latest updates and details on each file please click the provided links.
We are also continuing meaningful conversations with our fellow community chambers—Dawson, St. Elias and Chamber of Commerce—to strengthen territory-wide advocacy. While respecting our distinct structures and mandates, we are united in our focus on the key issues our members face.
MUNICIPAL ADVOCACY
We maintain an active dialogue with the City of Whitehorse on priorities like downtown safety and business-friendly development. This included securing a stakeholder role in the City’s Community Safety Plan initiative and advocating for the streamlining of permitting processes to reduce red tape for local projects. We continue to work closely with City officials on zoning updates and other measures to ensure a vibrant, growing climate for Whitehorse businesses. This work includes advocating for improved customer service in business licensing, participating in the Wayfinding Plan and the Downtown Commons Needs Assessment.
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Our advocacy with the City of Whitehorse continues to reflect the top priorities raised by our members. In response to feedback, we’ve engaged the City on downtown parking and safety, permitting delays, customer service issues, and building regulation enforcement.
We’re pleased to see several of our recommendations reflected in the City’s new 2025–2028 Strategic Priorities, including commitments to update the Downtown Plan and Business Licence Bylaw. We’ve offered to deliver customer service training to support frontline staff after concerns were raised by local business owners about their experiences securing a business license.
Through our participation on the Community Safety and Well-Being Advisory Committee, the Downtown Commons Needs Assessment, and the Wayfinding Working Group, we’re ensuring the business voice is included in placemaking, downtown vibrancy, and safety planning.
In collaboration with the Yukon Contractors Association, we are also advocating for improved permitting timelines and greater consistency in how the National Building Code is interpreted and enforced at the municipal level—critical for reducing costs, supporting affordable housing, and enabling timely development.
Ongoing dialogue with the Mayor, Council, and senior administration remains central to our efforts to align municipal decision-making with economic development, safety, and a strong environment for business growth.
TERRITORIAL ADVOCACY
Much of our recent advocacy has focused on key files with the Yukon Government. We co-hosted a multi-sector roundtable on the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and co-signed a joint letter with industry partners calling for a pause and economic impact review. We met with Premier Pemberton to elevate member concerns around labour shortages, rising costs, safety, and regulatory barriers.
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Meeting with the Premier: On July 28th, Chamber representatives met with Premier Mike Pemberton to advance our members’ priorities. We conveyed the urgency of labour shortages in key sectors and the need to expand immigration programs like the Yukon Nominee Program (YNP). The Premier acknowledged the ongoing labour crunch and agreed to advocate for more immigration slots to help local employers recruit critically needed talent. We also raised the issue of regulatory burden – 67% of surveyed members reported that government regulations are negatively impacting their operations. Premier Pemberton recognized that businesses struggle with overlapping municipal, territorial, and federal red tape, and he supported improving coordination across governments to streamline permits and requirements.
Another major topic was crime and downtown safety. The Premier shared our concern about repeat offenders and indicated that a commitment has been made to address bail reform in the fall, and there was broad consensus around the Premier’s table on the need for changes to ensure that repeat offenders are held accountable. Notably, he expressed strong support for Yukon to play a leadership role in northern economic development, including supporting the idea of an Arctic Summit to boost trade and infrastructure investment in the North and fostering collaboration with First Nations and other northern jurisdictions. Across all issues, the Premier’s responses underscored partnership and alignment with the business community – we will follow up to turn these commitments into concrete action.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): The Chamber continues to play an active role in the implementation of Yukon’s EPR regulations. After hosting a multi-industry roundtable on July 9th that brought together more than a dozen businesses, the Chamber, along with the Yukon Chamber of Mines and the Yukon Contractors Association, sent a letter to Premier Pemberton on July 22nd. In this joint letter, we urgently recommended two actions: (1) pause the implementation of EPR pending a full independent economic impact study, and (2) reset the government’s engagement approach by establishing clear communication channels and involving Yukon businesses more directly in EPR planning. We documented widespread confusion among businesses about their EPR obligations and highlighted that Yukon companies are facing some of the highest fees in Canada for recycling programs. Our letter made it clear that the business community supports waste reduction and recycling, but the program must be workable for Yukon. We have asked the government to conduct an evidence-based review to “get EPR right” rather than rushing ahead and risking economic fallout. We will continue to press for a temporary EPR delay and a constructive recalibration of the rollout in the weeks ahead.
Transparent & Local Procurement: Ensuring Yukon businesses benefit from government procurement and resource projects has been another focus. Back in May, the Chamber sent a letter to Minister Pillai addressing his previous response regarding the Eagle Gold Mine issue. We thanked the government for its efforts to manage the mine’s receivership, but we also voiced escalating concern about the lack of transparency and potential losses for local contractors.
Our letter urged the Government to improve procurement accountability and reporting for projects like the mine remediation – for example, publicly clarifying how many Yukon businesses are involved and the value of contracts awarded locally. We recommended that all future funding for such projects include clear local procurement targets and metrics to steadily increase the participation of Yukon-owned businesses. We also raised alarm over reports of Yukon companies being displaced by outside firms with pre-existing connections to the receivership. We called on the Government to ensure contractors are chosen through fair, transparent processes with no preferential treatment for southern firms. Minister Pillai has since indicated agreement on the need for more openness in procurement. Moving forward, we will work through our Procurement Committee to hold the government to these principles, so that local businesses are not left on the sidelines of major economic opportunities.
Trade Resilience & Diversification: In positive news, the Government of Yukon responded to the Chamber’s calls to support businesses hit by international trade disruptions. On July 17th, the Yukon government announced the launch of the Trade Resilience Program, a new $1 million fund to help Yukon companies adapt to U.S. tariffs and to reduce our economy’s reliance on U.S. markets. The program includes three streams of flexible funding: one for industry associations (e.g. to run “buy local” campaigns or training workshops), one for individual businesses directly hurt by U.S. tariffs (grants up to $50,000 for adaptation projects), and one for strategic projects commissioned by the government. The Whitehorse Chamber welcomed this program as a timely and strategic step. In the news release, our Executive Director noted that by investing in locally driven solutions and helping businesses adjust to shifting trade conditions, the program “reflects the priorities we’ve heard from our members and championed through our Economic Resilience and Development Committee.” We are proud that member input – including concerns raised through our surveys and advocacy committees – directly shaped this Trade Resilience Program. The Chamber will work closely with Economic Development to promote the program’s opportunities (the first application intake for larger projects is open until September 2, 2025) and to ensure maximum uptake. This initiative is a great example of government and the business community collaborating to bolster Yukon’s long-term economic resilience.
FEDERAL ADVOCACY
Our federal advocacy remains focused on ensuring Yukon business concerns are reflected in national conversations. We are meeting with MP Brendan Hanley this week to reiterate the top priorities raised by our members: labour shortage, high cost of living, trade access, Arctic infrastructure, and support for immigration pathways that meet local workforce needs.
Through our membership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, we’re also monitoring developments on U.S. tariffs, Canada–U.S. trade negotiations, and Bill C-5, which aims to strengthen interprovincial trade and labour mobility. We are also attending the Canadian Chamber’s AGM in October to ensure Yukon has a seat at the table during national policy discussions. While much of this work intersects with territorial priorities, we remain committed to keeping Yukon’s business voice at the national table.
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Through our membership in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber celebrated a major policy win this summer with the passage of Bill C-5, the “One Canadian Economy Act.” This federal legislation—granted Royal Assent on June 26, 2025—will eliminate many internal trade barriers and improve labour mobility across provinces and territories. In effect, it ensures that if a good, service, or professional qualification is approved in one province, it will be recognized across Canada, reducing duplication and delays.
Bill C-5 also streamlines approval processes for major nation-building infrastructure projects. The Whitehorse Chamber strongly supports these measures—freer movement of goods and workers within Canada will benefit Yukon’s economy and help local businesses expand into new markets. This priority also connects with broader efforts to reduce interprovincial trade barriers. As the Government of Yukon signs new MOUs focused on internal trade and regulatory alignment, there is a timely opportunity to ensure Yukon-based businesses are better positioned to compete—both within and outside the territory. Strengthening local procurement practices would complement these national initiatives and help reinforce the “support local” movement by enabling Yukon businesses to fully participate in emerging interjurisdictional opportunities.
We will remain engaged as the federal government works with provinces and territories to implement Bill C-5, ensuring that the promised “one Canadian economy” becomes a reality on the ground.
Addressing U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Goods: The Chamber is also monitoring international trade frictions that affect Yukon. One prominent issue is the suite of U.S. tariffs on Canadian construction materials (and Canada’s counter-tariffs) that have escalated in recent years. The Canadian Chamber’s Business Data Lab released a report in July titled Building Trouble: How U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Construction Materials Are Pricing Out the American Dream, which quantifies the impact of these tariffs on housing costs. The report found that U.S. duties on Canadian lumber, steel, aluminum and other inputs added roughly $6,000 to the cost of building an average single-family home in the U.S. between 2018 and 2024, and if current tariffs persist, that extra cost could reach $20,000 per home by 2027. In other words, protectionist trade measures are not only hurting Canadian exporters but are also directly driving up prices for American consumers. This analysis has garnered national media attention and strengthens the case for removing tariffs that are a “lose-lose” for both sides of the border. The Chamber will continue working with the Canadian Chamber and territorial partners to advocate for a return to rules-based trade and the lifting of unjustified U.S. tariffs.
Pan-Canadian Chamber Collaboration: Finally, to keep our members plugged into national business advocacy, the Whitehorse Chamber is participating in ongoing cross-country briefings, including the Pan-Canadian Chamber briefing hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This forum will provide the latest insights on federal policies, interprovincial trade developments, and trade issues like the U.S. tariffs, directly from their policy experts in Ottawa.
July was a month of solid progress built on collaboration – with City officials, the Yukon government, and our national Chamber network.
Many of these advocacy wins began with your input. We will continue to advance the issues that matter to you, and we’ll keep reporting back on outcomes.
As always, please reach out with any questions or new concerns.
Together, we are making a difference for a thriving, resilient Yukon business community.