The territory’s vacancy rate for community nursing has gone up since last year. That’s currently negatively affecting Faro and Pelly Crossing health centres
Some of the Yukon’s health-care centres have been seeing temporary closures and reduced services in recent months as the territorial government’s vacancy rate for community nursing creeps up again.
As of July 2025, the Yukon government had a 27-per-cent vacancy rate in community nursing, according to the territorial chief nursing officer Sheila Thompson. That’s up from last fall when Tracy-Anne McPhee, the health minister, repeatedly cited the vacancy rate in the legislature, and her department pointed to a hiring spree that was preventing centres from temporarily shuttering and limiting services.
The News has reported fluctuating vacancy rates in community nursing, from 19 per cent in 2024 to more than 40 per cent in previous years.
The Yukon Employees’ Union (YEU) suggested in a Facebook post that nurses aren’t showing up due to non-competitive pay and a lack of work-life balance. When asked to justify the union’s position, Rafsan Jugol, who works in YEU communications, said wages and balance are barriers to more generally recruiting health-care workers in the Yukon as the territory competes with other jurisdictions for workers.
Jugol cited responses to a question on a survey that captured only 12.6 per cent of the Yukon Hospital Corporation (YHC) workforce on file, including four inputs for Yukon government employees. While some YEU members working at YHC have Yukon government jobs, the health centres are run by Yukon government, not YHC.
While Thompson couldn’t comment on exactly what YEU was referring to, she contrasted the union’s theory behind the primary reasons for the nursing staff shortages in the Yukon. She noted that fluctuations in staffing and a lack of health-care workers are being felt nationally and internationally.
“Across the country, there are system challenges and reductions, and so this is not a unique-to-Yukon issue,” she said.
“I’m at many tables with partners across the country, and I know that they are all experiencing challenges. And you know, it’s unique to each area, depending on the size of the area, depending on the remoteness of the community.”
Thompson said a survey of nurses through federal chief nursing officers turned up several other items that topped the list regarding retention in the profession.
“We always focus on compensation,” she said.
“But really what people were looking at were flexible ways of working, reduced administrative burden, professional development, strong communication, inspired leadership. So, we’re looking at all of those things and compensation to make sure that we do remain competitive.”
Thompson said the territory is continuing to plow through the health human resources strategy to improve the staffing situation.
On Aug. 14, the Yukon government announced in a press release that signing bonuses and exam fee reimbursements will continue for nurses, including Yukon government-employed nurses at community health centres. The press release notes the government and YEU signed this interim deal before collective bargaining concludes. This agreement applies retroactively from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027. That means new nurse practitioners and registered nurses will get $7,500 as part of signing on for 12 months, while licensed practical nurses will receive $4,500.
The government is looking at more flexible work arrangements such as a part-time rotational agreement in which nurses can choose to work part time and rotate in and out of a position while maintaining benefits. Some other options Thompson mentioned include providing subsidized housing in communities for professions such as nursing and aiming to reduce administrative burden by working with Yukon University to create a new medical office assistant program, which has its first intake this fall.
“There’s multi prongs of recruitment and retention strategies. None of it is a single magic wand,” she said.
At the system level, Thompson noted staffing reductions can happen for many, often unpredictable, reasons, as well as vacation entitlements.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that a position hasn’t been filled. It may be that, you know, somebody is requiring to take leave for various reasons. And so, you know, I can’t really comment on that, but I know across the system that there, you know, there can be unexpected things that sort of come together in a perfect storm,” she said.
“The last option as a system is looking at a closure and reduction of services.”
Thompson said the employer aims to keep services going by maintaining 911 lines, home care and visiting physician clinics in communities when possible.
As a result of no staff, the Department of Health and Social Services is anticipating the Faro Health Centre will be temporarily closed starting Aug. 6. The centre reopens on Sept. 8, according to a Facebook post.
The post states no nurses will be available in Faro during the closure, but emergency medical services will station a paramedic in the community for emergency coverage. 911 will be available for emergencies and 811 for non-emergency health questions and support, as noted in the post.
Additionally, Selkirk First Nation posted a notice to Facebook about the Pelly Crossing Health Centre on Aug. 14. That centre will only be open for emergencies from Aug. 14 to Sept. 3.
The News has attempted to tally closures and limitations on services at health centres based on the department’s posts to Facebook. The News has also asked the department for an updated list of health centres impacted by closures and service reductions within and outside Whitehorse in 2025 but that information wasn’t available by publication.
According to the Facebook posts for 2025, Faro previously saw reduced services from July 21 to Aug. 6, when only one nurse was available in the community and the centre stayed open for urgent and emergency care only. Ross River had no nurse for a period and saw service reductions in July. Pelly Crossing faced staff shortages from late April through to May 22 when full services resumed at the health centre.
A statement from Nigel Allan in communications for the health department indicates between one and four health practitioners are working at the Whitehorse walk-in clinic this month. Staffing levels can change daily, he said. Physician coverage depends on doctors’ availability.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com