Yukon Region Emergency Management Plan
Table of contents
Introduction
The Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) Regional Emergency Management Plans provide an overview of the specific roles and responsibilities of ISC regional offices and regional staff in supporting First Nations emergency management. This plan identifies the Yukon regional office's responsibilities towards and relationship with: First Nations, Indigenous-led organizations, the provincial and territorial governments, and non-governmental organizations involved in emergency management activities that support First Nations communities.
This plan supports the ISC National On-reserve All Hazards Emergency Management Plan by identifying region-specific:
- risks and hazards;
- communication and information sharing mechanisms; and,
- how the ISC Yukon regional office works with service providers and First Nations to ensure emergency services are culturally relevant.
Like the ISC national emergency management plan, this document is not meant to replace any First Nations, provincial, territorials, regional, or community procedures and plans. It is intended to complement any existing plans or procedures and may be used to help make informed decisions and take concrete actions to assist First Nations communities in emergency situations.
This regional plan is intended to be an evergreen document and will be reviewed and updated at least every two years, or following important changes to mandates and/or roles and responsibilities.
Scope
This plan supports Yukon Self Governing First Nations and First Nations on Lands Set Aside in the four pillars of emergency management: prevention and mitigation; preparedness; response; and recovery. For more information on the national emergency management plan's scope, see ISC's National All Hazards Emergency Management Plan.
The role of the Yukon Regional Emergency Management Plan is to support the National Emergency Plan while addressing the specific needs of Yukon Self Governing First Nations and First Nations on Lands Set Aside. In addition, Yukon Region administers ISC emergency management programs to three First Nations On Reserve in Northern B.C., Taku River Tlingit, Daylu Dena Council, and Dease River due to geographical proximity. The Regional Plan does not replace any emergency management plans or procedures identified by the Territorial Government, First Nations communities, or local authorities.
Regional risk environment
As outlined in ISC's national emergency management plan, Canada's risk environment includes a broad range of natural and human-induced hazards. Each region faces its own particular risk environment. Below, you can find Yukon's regional risk assessment.
Regional context informing risk assessment
Geographical Overview: The south and central areas of the Yukon are characterized by continuous mountain and valley ranges within a coniferous dominated Boreal forest. The northern areas are tundra with underlain permafrost soils. All communities with the exception of Old Crow are road accessible, but most are several hours drive from Whitehorse where the majority of emergency resources are located. In the event of a major evacuation, the limited connectivity (Alaska Highway) with southern communities would compound response efforts.
Risk assessment for Yukon
Wildfire: The south and central areas of Yukon are dominated by coniferous Boreal forest in an arid climate. As such, lightning caused fires has always been a natural part of this forest. Since 1946 there have been well over 6,000 documented wildfires. In 2023, the Yukon much like other parts of Canada, saw an unprecedented wildfire season. The First Nations communities of Old Crow and Mayo were evacuated and other areas under evacuation alert for much of the summer. Warmer temperatures, droughts and more frequent lightning strikes due to climate change are significant drivers for the increasing risk of wildfires in the region. Wildfire is the biggest single threat to the Yukon as no community is immune, and the risk is yearly. The large geographical distance between communities and limited resources can overwhelm the Territorial response when several communities are threatened at the same time. This happened in the 2023 fire season, leaving some First Nations' property and cultural assets unprotected. The 2024 and 2025 fire seasons were somewhat better with no major evacuations, but both years saw the communities of Mayo, Dawson and Beaver Creek under evacuation alerts. Road closures due to wildfire and smoke was also common occurrence. There were also several instances of communications disruptions due fiber line damage from wildfire.
Flood: The most common cause of flooding in the Yukon is the spring snowmelt freshet. Most First Nations' communities are located adjacent to lakes or rivers so flooding can be considered to be a yearly threat. Recently, the communities of Teslin (2023, 2022) and Lower Post (2021) saw significant spring flood events that overwhelmed the communities' response. The other common cause of flooding in rivers are spring ice jams. Ice jams are entirely unpredictable and occur in a matter of hours making response difficult to execute in a timely fashion due to limited forecasting. An ice jam on the Yukon River flooded a dozen homes in Carmacks in 2022. In 2023, an ice jam on the Klondike River flooded the Tr'ondek Hwech'in community farm and surrounding areas causing significant damage. Ice jam flooding of the Porcupine River threatened the community of Old Crow in 2024 and in 2025, water levels reached the highest levels in over thirty years.
Severe Weather: Yukon winters are long and cold, but First Nations communities are well adapted to this environment and extreme weather by itself is not normally a risk factor. It is only in conjunction with other disruptive events that put communities at risk like power outages, road closures, and communication (fiber line) disruptions.
Opioid crises and suicide clusters: All of Yukon's communities have been impacted by the current opioid crises and it is showing no signs of slowing down. On January 20, 2022, the Government of Yukon declared a Substance Use Health Emergency in response to the surge in substance use related harms. The Yukon has the highest death rate in Canada from opioid use at 48.4 deaths per 100,000. The impact on Yukon First Nations' communities is profound, with normal community functions at times severely impacted or halted altogether.
Regional legislation, regulations, authorities and/or agreements
The Yukon Territorial Government is responsible for activities related to emergency management in the Yukon.
Yukon Civil Emergency Measures Act (2002)
Civil Emergency Measures Act (yukon.ca) (PDF)
BC Provincial Emergency Program Act (1996)
Emergency Program Act (gov.bc.ca)
Regional agreements
For information on the region's emergency management service agreements, please see the Department's Emergency Management Service Agreements webpage.
Communication and information-sharing mechanism(s)
Yukon Region's Emergency Management Process for Yukon and First Nations in B.C.:
- When a First Nations community is impacted by an all-hazards emergency that exceeds their ability to respond or cope, the first point of contact is Yukon EMO (Emergency Measures Organization) emo.yukon@yukon.ca 867-667-5220 or EMBC EMBC.NWEAdmin@gov.bc.ca 250-615-4800 for northern B.C. communities;
- Yukon EMO supports First Nations with coordination of response activities;
- Yukon EMO or EMBC notifies the Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) Yukon Regional Office of the emergency event and;
- CIRNAC Yukon Regional Office communicates emergency event via situational awareness reports to relevant agencies (ISC, Emergency Management Assistance Program, First Nation Emergency Society Services). Notification is sent to Comms-Region-GU_EM Comms-Region-GU_EM@sac-isc.gc.ca
- CIRNAC Yukon RO works with Yukon EMO or EMBC and First Nations with response and recovery efforts; and
- Claims for Yukon emergencies on Lands Set Aside will be assessed regionally on an individual basis.
In a public health emergency event, Yukon Health and Social Services (HSS) would replace EMO as lead agency.
Culturally relevant emergency services in Yukon
The Yukon Regional Office works with the territorial HSS Branch and Yukon First Nations to ensure that emergency services are culturally relevant. To minimize the risk of harm during emergency events, especially ones in which an evacuation is needed, it is of great importance that neighboring non-affected First Nations be a part of the response. The wildfire evacuations that took place in the Yukon in 2023 highlighted the value of this collaboration. The First Nations of Kwanlin Dun and the Ta'an Kwach'an Council supported many of the evacuees in lodging, meals, and personal services.