Whitehorse endorses A Place to Be

Whitehorse City Council has endorsed A Place to Be: Framework for Community Action to End Homelessness 2025-2030, and ensured the City of Whitehorse will support the implementation of the plan.

A Place to Be, developed by the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, is a plan to reduce homelessness in the Yukon by 50 percent. It provides governments, organizations and community partners with a shared framework for policy and program decisions related to homelessness based on four priorities:

• Strengthen the Housing-Focused Workforce and System Practices
• Strengthen System Governance, Access and Coordination
• Embed Equity and Cultural Safety Through First Nations and Lived-Experience Leadership
• Prevention and Housing Stability

The City of Whitehorse will participate in the intergovernmental advisory group for homelessness response and housing system alignment that is being established under the plan.

Endorsing and supporting the implementation of A Place to Be is consistent with the Whitehorse 2040 Official Community Plan Policy 9.2, which directs the City to collaborate with other governments, agencies, housing providers, and the development industry to understand and address housing needs within the community.

Earlier this year, the City released the 2026 Whitehorse Housing Needs Assessment, which identifies the current and anticipated housing needs in Whitehorse over the next 15 years.

The City is currently working on a Housing Action Plan to help address the gap between the number of homes available and the needs of the community. Since 2013, the City has provided more than $3.5 million under the Housing Development Incentives Policy, which supports rental and supportive housing projects.

The City is working on various land development projects in Whitehorse in collaboration with the Government of Yukon, Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, and is advancing reconstruction projects in Hillcrest and Downtown that will renew critical infrastructure and support housing-enabling growth.

Quotes

“City Council strongly endorses A Place to Be and its goal of reducing homelessness in the Yukon by 50 per cent. Homelessness has proven to be a persistent problem in our community that no one organization can address alone. Partnership is key and we have to come together to reach this aspirational goal. The City has taken major steps in recent years to enable and support housing development, and we are proud to continue working with the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition and other partner organizations on this vitally important issue.”

Kirk Cameron
Mayor of Whitehorse

Additional info

• A Place to Be builds on the 2017 Safe at Home: A Plan to End Homelessness, which was developed by organizations, people with lived experience, First Nations, and municipal and territorial leaders.
• The City of Whitehorse has been involved in the Community Advisory Board supporting the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition’s work to address homelessness since 2017.
• The City does not provide housing directly, but it has a role in land development, permitting and taxation whereby it may encourage development that is not being provided under existing market conditions.
• Residents can provide input into the City’s Housing Action Plan by completing a survey before October 23, 2026. Learn more and complete the survey at ca.
• Since 2013, the City has provided $3,594,892 under the Housing Development Incentives Policy.

Links

• A Place to Be: Framework for Community Action to End Homelessness 2025-2030
• Whitehorse 2040 Official Community Plan
• 2026 Whitehorse Housing Needs Assessment
• The City of Whitehorse’s Housing Action Plan survey
• Housing Development Incentives Policy

For more information:
Matthew Cameron
Manager, Strategic Communications
City of Whitehorse
[email protected]
867-689-0515