Nearly 100 people from agencies and governments across the Yukon will be attending a first-of-its-kind, sector-wide training in Whitehorse from August 25-27 to strengthen the Territory’s homelessness response.
The training marks another step forward in implementing the recommendations for the Yukon’s framework for community action to end homelessness, A Place To Be, which was launched on June 4, 2026, after a year of territory-wide consultations, focus groups, and data analysis.
Participants include direct service staff and their supervisors, people with lived and living experience of homelessness, representatives from First Nations governments and organizations, territorial and municipal governments and non governmental organizations. Eleven Yukon First Nations are represented among participants, with people travelling to Whitehorse from nine communities.
“During the creation of A Place To Be, we heard from people across the sector that much of their time was spent responding to immediate crises, and that they wanted to expand the skills, tools, and shared practices to help people experiencing homelessness to move from crisis to home,” said Michelle Mbuto, the Training and Development Coordinator with the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, which contracted the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) to deliver the training.
“This is about more than building individual skills. People who deliver services, those who supervise them, shape systems and people who bring lived experience are participating in the same foundational learning. That gives us an opportunity to build shared practice across the sector, strengthen the capacity of everyone involved, and better support people experiencing homelessness,” said Mbuto.
CAEH is providing two training sessions over the course of three days, geared to local priorities:
These sessions kick off a training series that will be delivered over the coming year to strengthen knowledge, skills, and collaboration across the workforce, putting everyone in the homelessness sector on the same path to ensuring all Yukoners have a safe, permanent place to call home.
“Having a highly-skilled, well-trained and coordinated workforce is essential for communities to reduce and ultimately end homelessness. We know the staff and agencies in the Yukon are committed to this work, and we’re excited to share the latest research, knowledge and best practices as part of the territory’s system transformation,” said Quinn Moerike, the training and support lead with CAEH.
Representatives from YAPC and CAEH are available to provide interviews about the trainings andhow this advances the recommendations in A Place To Be: Framework for Community Action to End Homelessness 2025-2030.
Kristina Craig, Executive Director
Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition
ed@yapc.ca
867-334-9318
Jarrah Hodge, Communications Lead
Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness
media@caeh.ca
613-294-7572
YAPC is a non-profit organization working to eliminate poverty in the Yukon through awareness, education, advocacy, community building and action. YAPC is the Reaching Home community entity in the Yukon, working with a community advisory board to administer federal funds and facilitate a coordinated response to homelessness across the territory.
CAEH leads a national movement of individuals, organizations and communities working together to end homelessness in Canada. CAEH works directly with communities to develop dynamic homelessness response systems, trains front line workers in the essential skills of ending homelessness, and advocates to all levels of government for sufficient deeply affordable housing for all Canadians and the supports people need to stay in their homes.