Alimardon Butayev started learning about the gold rush and Klondike when he was growing up.
“When I was a kid, I read lots of stories by Jack London,” Butayev said.
“At the time, I had so much interest.”
Butayev moved from Uzbekistan to Canada with his family of three in April 2023. Four months later, they started to make the Yukon their home. That fall, Butayev enrolled in a multimedia communications program at Yukon University, later graduating in 2024.
His son Usmon is currently two-and-a-half years old.
Butayev hopes Usmon will get the chance to grow up here, but his dreams are flickering since the federal government has cracked down on immigration and reduced the number of Yukon Nominee Program spots by half — from 430 in 2024 to 215 in 2025. The program is intended to help employers fill job openings by bringing in foreign workers, offering a potential path for immigrants to get permanent residency.
Before coming to Canada, Butayev studied law and worked as a lawyer in Uzbekistan.
“Then I decided to start my career from zero in a more developed, peaceful country,” he said.
Butayev has been working at a retail store in Whitehorse.
But when the time finally came, he couldn’t submit his application to the Yukon Nominee Program.
“When I was ready, with six months local experience here, last year, suddenly, in May, they closed it,” he said.
On May 16, 2024, Premier and Economic Development Minister Ranj Pillai announced the Yukon Nominee Program was temporarily halting submissions for Whitehorse-based businesses. The program had already received more applications than available allocations from the federal government.
With encouragement from his employer, Butayev waited for submissions to reopen for businesses in the Yukon’s capital.
But since the feds made cuts to the territorial and provincial nominee program allocations across the country, the Yukon government announced last month that it is delaying the planned January 2025 intake of applications.
The delay is intended to allow time to consider the program’s approach to accepting and processing applications this year, to make sure that the limited allocation is “used strategically to address the Yukon’s pressing labour needs,” according to the premier’s statement.
Much remains uncertain for now, according to Linnea Blum, who works in communications for the territorial Economic Development department. She noted the scale and timing of the announcement. Feedback from industry organizations has been sought, she said.
The Whitehorse and Yukon chambers of commerce and the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon are working together to get feedback from their members, which will be transmitted to the department. Blum said non-members are also welcome to share their thoughts.
Blum didn’t want to “pre-empt” the comments but noted that “retention rates of foreign nationals who attended post-secondary education in a jurisdiction have been found to be higher than average. We also heard from Yukon University and students after the intake pause for Whitehorse employers began in May 2024.”
“We have also continued to prioritize individuals who are already in the Yukon, before applicants from out-of-country, to quickly meet labour needs without delays that are often experienced when acquiring necessary travel documentation and visas,” Blum said.
She said economic immigration helps local employers meet their labour needs as they offer goods, services and social benefits across the territory.
In 2024, the top jobs filled by the Yukon nominee program were food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related occupations, cashiers, early childhood educators and assistants, retail salespersons and visual merchandisers, and light duty cleaners, per Blum.
With around the highest employment and job vacancy rates in Canada, Blum explained the impact of nominee program cuts on the Yukon.
“This means that there are a limited number of Yukoners currently looking for work in the territory,” Blum said.
“By reducing the number of foreign nationals that will make the Yukon their home through the nominee program, employers may struggle to fill positions critical to maintaining or growing their businesses. Employers may need to explore other available immigration pathways administered by the federal government to meet their labour needs.”
When the program resumes intake, applications will be accepted from employers in Whitehorse and communities, per Blum.
Butayev feels like he is competing for the opportunity to stay here. He hopes the Yukon Nominee Program paper pushers prioritize people like him: local graduates and those with families who have invested in their future in the Yukon.
“But here in Yukon, this regulation doesn't exist,” he said. He wants to see that changed as the Yukon government works on its allocation strategy.
While he admits that “no one promised” permanent residency to him, the road has been challenging. He hasn’t met any other Uzbeks in the Yukon.
“If Canada wants to have cultural diversity, we should maybe give some priorities for minority people,” he said.
Despite the federal government signalling it is cutting down on immigration, the Yukon government had requested more Yukon Nominee Program spots; not less.
The News has reached out to federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller, who was not made available for interview.
A statement from the minister’s office points to the 2025-2027 immigration levels plan. The statement indicates “temporary resident targets” are in place “to help us align immigration planning with community capacity” related to housing, infrastructure and social services.
Relevant factors that come into play when determining the number of allocations include: the state of the application inventory, application processing times and provincial and territorial immigration needs.
The minister’s office said provinces and territories can request more spots, particularly if they commit to supporting asylum seekers.
Miller’s office would not comment on whether more spots are being considered for the Yukon as conversations are ongoing.
Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, confirmed there have been no admissions of permanent residents from Uzbekistan under the nominee program with Yukon as the destination. Participating provinces and territories nominate foreign nationals whom they believe will meet particular regional labour market needs and who intend to settle, he said.
Before Butayev met the News for an interview in downtown Whitehorse by the Yukon River on Jan. 26, 2025, he wrote a letter to the News about his “journey of dreams and uncertainty.”
“Yukon welcomed us with its breathtaking landscapes and warm-hearted people, and I was determined to make it my home,” he wrote.
“For now, I continue to wait, hoping for a fair and just solution that will allow me and many others like me to truly belong.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
