Canada's auditor general will be auditing the Yukon Economic Development department’s nominee programs.
That’s according to a letter from deputy auditor general Andrew Hayes to Currie Dixon, who leads the Yukon Party and chairs the standing committee on public accounts. The letter notes the scope and timing of the audit of the Yukon Nominee Program and the Yukon Business Nominee Program haven’t been finalized.
Last week, the Yukon Party shared the letter with media, after it was made public by the committee, along with a press release welcoming the audit.
In the release, Porter Creek North MLA Geraldine Van Bibber, who is the Economic Development critic, said the party keeps hearing from the business community about “issues” with the program and the Yukon government’s “abrupt” decision in May to temporarily halt new applications for the Yukon Nominee Program for businesses in Whitehorse.
Van Bibber said some individuals and businesses are “caught up” in the decision.
“There has been at least one person found guilty of immigration fraud in 2023 in connection to these programs,” reads the Yukon Party press release.
The Yukon Party previously raised questions in the legislature about an immigration fraud scheme dating back several years that involved Joyce Chang, a donor to the Yukon Liberal Party after charges were laid against her.
Van Bibber said the Yukon Party will be directing those with concerns about the nominee programs to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
One of Canada’s provincial, or territorial, nominee programs, the Yukon Nominee Program allows employers to hire long-term employees. Foreign workers nominated to work under the program are accepted under the notion that they’ll live in the Yukon in the long run, according to Linnea Blum in communications for the Economic Development department.
Blum said the Yukon Business Nominee Program nominates foreign business people who invest in and successfully run a new or existing Yukon business for permanent residence. Nominees can either start a new business, buy an existing business or partner with an existing business.
Jordan Owens in Yukon government cabinet communications issued a statement in response to the Yukon Party’s press release about the programs.
“We hope that as part of their investigation, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada will be looking into connections between the Yukon Party, Conservative Party of Canada, and the only business that has been banned this year from participating in the Yukon Nominee Program,” Owens said, linking to the Yukon government web page of banned businesses.
The ban against the legal name Yukon Food Concepts Inc. involves businesses under the names Destination Family Hotel and Antoinette’s Restaurant, according to the list of bans on the Yukon government website. The violation is listed as Type C, which involves “serious violations” like not paying enough, not providing enough work or getting paid to accept a nominee.
The Yukon Party invited the public to an event at Antoinette’s Restaurant in late 2023 and the Conservative Party of Canada hosted an event there in September 2023, prior to the ban.
Owens said local immigration consultants are listed as Yukon Party donors, citing Elections Yukon.
“With respect to the person found guilty of immigration fraud in 2023 (...) those charges were laid for violations that were allegedly committed between July 2013 and September 2016 — while the Yukon Party was in government,” she said.
With respect to this year’s pause on the Yukon Nominee Program, Owens noted the Yukon government got 430 nominee spots from the federal government for this year and received close to 600 applications.
As reported by the News, the territorial government is calling for more spots from the feds next year.
“Either the Yukon Party Caucus skipped the day in elementary school math class where students were taught about ‘greater than, less than’ or they think the government should have kept businesses in the dark and continued to accept new applications, even though many would definitely not be processed or approved,” Owens wrote.
“Can we assume the Yukon Party would have continued to let businesses waste their time with applications that would not be processed this year? Either way, the Yukon Party owes businesses an explanation.”
Yukon NDP Leader Kate White said the third party has been raising concerns about the program since the Yukon Party was in power.
“We have continuously highlighted how the lack of adequate government oversight for this program puts participants in incredibly vulnerably positions,” White said.
“We continue to hear major concerns from business owners and participants alike.”
The audit is expected to be presented to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in fall 2025.
Editor's note: This story initially indicated that the Yukon Party made the letter public. In fact, they shared the letter with the media after it was made public by the public accounts standing committee.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
