Ottawa invests $2.13M in Yukon recovery and outreach programs
Published 4:20 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2026
The federal government has announced $2.13 million for two Yukon projects through its Emergency Treatment Fund, part of Ottawa’s effort to help communities respond to the harms associated with illegal substance use.
The funding, unveiled Feb. 17, by Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and Crown–Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, is drawn from a $13‑million round of support through the Emergency Treatment Fund and the Substance Use and Addictions Program for 23 projects across Northern and Western Canada.
Shäwthän Näzhì: Healing with the Land Society received $2.09 million from the Emergency Treatment Fund to support Indigenous youth and adults seeking sobriety through traditional ceremonies and culturally rooted on‑the‑land programming in Haines Junction.
The organization operates three sites, in Whitehorse’s industrial area, the Ibex Valley, and Haines Junction, allowing staff to bring programming directly to participants rather than requiring people to travel for support.
Director Kyra Chambers said the funding will allow the society to continue its year‑long recovery program, which currently supports 15 to 20 participants through weekly circles. She said the money will help the society continue what it is already doing.
Chambers said the goal is to meet people where they’re at, offering programming throughout the Yukon and bringing it to where it’s needed, sometimes out on the land with horses or in other locations.
The Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) received $45,000 for its Moccasin Mobile Outreach van in Whitehorse, allowing the service to expand its after‑hours and weekend supports downtown. The outreach van is staffed by workers trained in first aid and stocked with harm‑reduction supplies, which the federal government says are aimed at preventing overdoses.
“The Moccasin Mobile is now going from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., and the team that goes out and does this work is incredible. They are so compassionate, so caring, and they’ve built trusted relationships, and it’s that type of interaction, that relationship, that actually changes people’s lives,” Grand Chief Math’ieya Alatini said.
Alantini said the van distributed more than 21,000 items last year, including food, clothing, hygiene supplies, and harm‑reduction materials, while maintaining thousands of direct interactions with residents. She said the outreach team’s work during cold snaps throughout December last year, including nights reaching –45 C, demonstrates the importance of the project.
Funding for projects in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut was not included in the list of 23 initiatives released by the federal government. The list detailed 11 projects in British Columbia, four in Alberta, four in Saskatchewan, two in Manitoba, and two in the Yukon.
Alty pointed to a previous federal announcement in Yellowknife, which a federal press release dated Oct. 31, 2025, says allocated $903,000 from the Emergency Treatment Fund to Yellowknife’s Enhanced Street Outreach Program, when asked by reporters whether projects in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut received support in the latest round. She compared that earlier funding to the work done by the Moccasin Mobile Outreach van.
No Nunavut projects were detailed at the Whitehorse announcement.
Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick also have active projects funded through the Emergency Treatment Fund, according to Health Canada’s website. Nationally, the 2024 federal budget committed $150 million over three years to support municipalities and Indigenous communities in responding to illegal drug use through the fund, according to a Feb. 17 federal news release.
Alty said no information was available on what other regions of Canada have received, or can expect to receive, from the Emergency Treatment Fund beyond the $13‑million allocation for Northern and Western Canada announced at the Council of Yukon First Nations in Whitehorse.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com