Premier Ranj Pillai is expressing concern about potentially losing immigrant workers due to a lack of a strategy to keep them here while trying to cut "red tape" so doctors can come work in the Yukon.
During a press conference alongside Canada's premiers after their meetings in Halifax, Pillai said the Yukon is among places in Canada feeling the effects of an “immense” number of international students entering post-secondary schools in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia who are now going across the country to try to become Canadians, including filling holes in the workforce in the Yukon.
For some, their time is running out.
Pillai noted the Yukon hit its target imposed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in the Yukon nominee program within three months this year. The program is currently on pause for taking applications from Whitehorse-based businesses until next year.
“We’re going to be losing workers. We don't have a strategy to keep them in our provinces and territories,” Pillai said.
He is urging the feds to realize the implications of quick decisions on the economy by looking forward at immigration programs.
Pillai spoke to the News by phone from Halifax following three days of meetings with the premiers for the Council of the Federation.
A press release following the meetings notes the premiers reflected on the state of federal-provincial-territorial relations and ways to make the federation better. Health, public safety, international relationships, and Arctic security and sovereignty were among items discussed.
With the Arctic on the national stage, Pillai told the News he feels like he’s being kept informed on threats to northern Canada, unlike when he first took on the role as premier.
Weeks after Pillai took on the top job, in February 2023, Norad shot down an unidentified object over the Yukon. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took credit for calling for the take down, which he later said happened somewhere between Dawson City and Mayo. It was one of four objects taken down over a few weeks in Canada and U.S. airspace.
At the time, Pillai wasn’t getting access to all the information from the federal government that he needed as premier, he said.
“I was very pleased, I have to say, respectfully, to the briefings that I received in Iqaluit during our Northern Premiers Conference earlier this year. We had Canadian Armed Forces, we had multiple federal ministers, we had (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service), we had the head of Canadian cyber security, all in a secure area where all three premiers had a very strong dialogue and an incredible opportunity to ask questions,” he said.
“They identified many of the threats that we have to take into consideration. Nothing that's imminent, but that definitely had an opportunity to understand where investments are being made by some of the countries that are threats to us and where they see some of the bigger challenges.”
Pillai indicated Russia and China have been identified as some of the biggest threats as countries.
Pillai nodded to the feds announcing earlier this year $73 billion over 20 years in military spending, and Canada’s defence spending to GDP ratio is expected to rise to 1.76 per cent — short of two per cent NATO obligations — by 2029-30.
“We need to see those dollars now being deployed into the assets that are required, and we need to see that done in a way where folks in the North — our First Nation governments and our development corporations and our private sectors players — have an understanding of how this money is going to be used, and that they have an opportunity to participate in the building of these assets,” Pillai said.
During a press conference following the meetings, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok spoke to the gap between infrastructure in the North and South of Canada, emphasizing the importance of dual-use infrastructure for military purposes and “unlocking” critical minerals.
Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson suggested cost of living could be brought down and defence brought up, as a result of having to fly in goods and the impacts at the grocery store, by investing in the North.
Pillai told the News the Yukon’s work on Arctic security and sovereignty is “really resonating” with his colleagues. The Yukon’s Arctic Security Council is expected to release a report this year that Pillai indicated is much anticipated by the federal government. He said five or six premiers spoke to the importance of the Arctic, including those with some of the biggest population bases in the country; not just the territories, like in the not-so-distant past.
“Now you hear most leaders in this country talking about the importance of dual-use infrastructure. You know, Alberta, Ontario, talking about dual-use infrastructure in communities in the North, in the Yukon,” he said, referring to things like buildings and roads that have military and civilian uses.
“I think that that speaks volumes to our ability to build relationships across political lines.”
On another note, the press release notes premiers have “serious concerns” around repeat violent offenders in Canada. Bail reform amendments made last year may not be working as intended, premiers noted in their call for a thorough review of the implementation and application of bail reform.
During the interview, Pillai highlighted his concern about the “crime that we've seen in the downtown (Whitehorse) core, especially to individuals and businesses.”
“I think that we're calling on the federal government to ensure that some of the things that we've looked for in bail reform are actually being operationalized on the ground,” he said.
“It also gave us an opportunity to ensure that we have the right tools in place to deal with drug trafficking, which has been so impactful to our families and communities and loved ones in the Yukon.”
In the release, the premiers indicated federal engagement with provinces and territories is deteriorating in that it’s limited and inconsistent while the feds try to advance programs that breach provincial and territorial jurisdiction.
Pillai’s concern around federally funded programs isn’t the scope and parameters around those programs. He told the News he’s more concerned about those programs continuing to be funded if there’s a change in government.
“My fear is that, you know, I just don't want to see us lose that support in the coming years if we see a change in the federal level,” he said.
During the press conference, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, who hosted the meetings, shared that concern, for example, regarding child and dental care, which is why he said premiers are trying to focus the federal government on such issues.
While in Halifax, Pillai told the News the Yukon government signed onto a working group led by Newfoundland to reduce "red tape” for doctors to have more mobility to come work in the Yukon.
"Last year, we signed an agreement with Nova Scotia. We signed an MOU around looking at best practices when it came to healthcare innovation. One of the areas that we focused on was making sure that we could, if we went out and recruited doctors, we felt that one of the quickest ways that we could have them licensed to work in the Yukon was to use the Atlantic registry. So what had happened was the Atlantic provinces came together with a very streamlined approach for doctors that were coming from potentially out of country to pay a small fee. They would then be licensed in all four provinces in Atlantic Canada, and they had a structure and a governance system that was in place to do that quickly," he said.
"We asked if we could become part of that."
Pillai said "red tape" is preventing doctors from going outside of Atlantic Canada into other regions like the Yukon, so over the next year, they are looking at reducing the burden. He noted the Yukon doesn't have a college of physicians, so it relies on other regions to do that work for it, such as recruiting outside the country, then the Yukon taps into that and grants individuals the ability to practise here.
“That will help us have more doctors,” he said.
“We've hired almost 200 nurses over the last year, and we need the complement as well of doctors.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com