For Immediate Release
February 3, 2026
Whitehorse, Yukon — The Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition has released the final report from the ARCH Whitehorse project, Strengthening Collaboration to House the Unhoused. The report highlights the urgent need for coordinated, community-driven action to address chronic homelessness in Whitehorse.
“These findings reinforce what our community has been saying for years: without adequate housing and sustained, coordinated supports, people fall through the cracks,” said Fanny Amyot, ARCH Researcher. “This project shows the power of collaboration and the importance of listening to and learning from the voices of people with lived experience in the work we do.”
The Action Research on Chronic Homelessness (ARCH) project, which took place from December 2023 to March 2025, brought together frontline organizations, First Nations governments, people with lived experience, and all levels of government to identify barriers and strengthen collaboration across the housing and homelessness system.
“When I think about the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness project, collaboration comes to mind,” said Jason Charlie, ARCH Project Researcher. “In the dictionary, collaborate means: the action(s) with others to produce or create something. And, that is what, along with NGO’s, government and municipal partners, Fanny, Michelle, and I did. We all worked together to identify the barriers people faced that prevented them from accessing services or attaining stable housing.”
He added, “The ARCH project emphasized the strong need for coordination, cooperation, and communication amongst all community partners. The ARCH final report gives us another choice — because it is opening another door for us to build a better, safer, healthier community.”
Report Findings
Whitehorse faces a severe shortage of affordable and supportive housing, with high rents, extremely low vacancy rates, and rising costs pushing people into homelessness. Indigenous people continue to be disproportionately impacted. Community members also identified challenges in navigating a complex and siloed system, underscoring the need for culturally grounded, trauma-informed services.
The ARCH report also points to broader systemic issues. Short project timelines, administrative burdens, and fragmented funding often undermine community-driven, culturally informed approaches—especially in a northern context.
“Participants were clear that training alone won’t fix homelessness, but they consistently identified it as an important lever for change,” said Michelle Mbuto, ARCH Project Researcher. “The ARCH findings reflect a strong belief that when training is paired with systems coordination, reduced turnover, and adequate resources, it can better support both workers and the people they serve.”
While these challenges remain significant, over the course of the project, groundwork was laid to strengthen coordination and improve access to services.
The research project:
Find out more here about the eight ARCH Reports from across Canada.
ARCH Whitehorse Report available here
Media Contact
Fanny Amyot
ARCH Researcher
Phone: (514) 726-8862
Jason Charlie
ARCH Project Researcher
Phone: (867) 689-5458 (text first)
About the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness (ARCH)
The Action Research on Chronic Homelessness (ARCH) project is a national pilot under Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy (funded by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada). ARCH supported eight communities across Canada to identify persistent barriers to ending homelessness, test new approaches, and strengthen collaboration across organizations, governments, and people with lived experience. In Whitehorse, ARCH was led by the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition in partnership with local service providers and First Nations governments. Find out more here about the eight ARCH Reports from across Canada.