Move to Yukon under the Nominee Program

The Yukon Nominee Program (YNP) exists to help skilled workers wanting to settle in Yukon see their permanent residency visa approved faster by being nominated by the province.

You will need to submit your application to the province first and then apply for a permanent resident visa through Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) as a Provincial Nominee, once Yukon approves your application.

The YNP prioritises those applicants who can demonstrate a strong likelihood of successfully establishing themselves in Yukon society.

The YNP is divided in three separate programs:

• Business
• Skilled Worker
• Critical Impact Worker

Business Program

The Yukon Business Program is administered by the Government of Yukon’s Department of Economic Development and has been designed to attract buisiness expertise and investment capital to the territory. It is split between the following two streams:

• Entrepreneur category
• Self-Employed category

Business applicants via either stream must:

• Have a minimum of five years of senior management or direct entrepreneurial experience in a business similar to the one proposed
• Submit a resume or CV (curriculum vitae), letters of recommendation, financial statements and other documents to support his/her experience
• Have a minimum net worth of CA$250,000, including minimum liquid assets of CA$150,000. (e.g. cash, demand deposits with a financial institution, term deposits, tax shelters convertible to cash, and readily marketable investments including publicly traded stocks and bonds)
• Have visited Yukon at least once, and, as a consequence, have an understanding of Yukon’s business and social environment
• Meet with one of the program’s officers in the Business and Industry Development Branch 
• Demonstrate reasonable communication skills in English and/or French in order to operate a business in Yukon

Priority is given to those applicants who intend to establish an active business or purchase all of an existing business that has supportable prospects for expansion in a sector on the Strategic Sector List.

Priority (strategic) business sectors include:

• Information Technology
• Manufacturing
• Value-added processing
• Forestry
• Tourism products, attractions, services and facilities
• Energy
• Mining/mineral development
• Agriculture
• Cultural industries
• Film and video production
• The following sectors are ineligible under the Business Program:
• - Passive investments
• - Retail, wholesale operations and distribution operations
• - Restaurants
• - Financial services
• - Business and personal services
• - Most professional practices
• - Real estate rental

Skilled Worker

The intent of this program is to assist Yukon employers, sectors or governments to identify and nominate potential qualified immigrants to fill positions that cannot be filled by the local or national labour market.

Applicants under this category must:

• Have the required certification or accreditation for the specific trade or occupation
• Be licensed or accepted by the territorial body governing for the occupation or trade, if applicable
• Be able to conduct basic communications in either English or French, depending on the official language of the work place
• Not be a refugee claimant
• Both the employer and the employee must provide a Memorandum of Understanding outlining their responsibilities under the YNP.

To apply, you will need to submit a complete signed copy of the Skilled Worker Application Form, as well as all the other documentation specified on the application form.

It takes only about six weeks to have your Skilled Worker application process, once you have submitted it in full. At this time, you can complete your residency application with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Critical Impact Worker

This category is designed to increase the labour pool for entry level jobs in the hospitality and service sector industry and is in place until 31 March 2011 or until the completion of the Yukon Immigration Strategy and Action Plan, which is currently in development.

To be able to nominate an applicant, employers must meet a series of criteria:

• Employers must be a registered business, industry association or a local, municipal, First Nation or Territorial Government in Yukon that has been registered and operational for a minimum of one year.
• Except for the occupations in the Skills Shortage List, the employer must verify the need for the position and provide evidence that they have tried to recruit locally and nationally to fill the position.
• The offer of employment must be a permanent full-time position in a trade or skill that falls into skill levels 0, A or B of the National Occupational Classification Matrix and must meet the minimum requirements of territorial labour standards, providing comparable industry rate of pay.

For a potential employee to be considered eligible in this category, he/she must also meet a set of criteria:

 

• Have a temporary work permit and have worked in the position for six months, or obtain a score of 45 or better on the Pre-Assessment
• Prove sufficient financial supports or settlement supports in Yukon
• Have the required work experience for the specific occupation
• Be able to conduct basic communications in either English or French, depending on the official language of the work place
• Not be a refugee claimant

Both the employer and the employee must provide a Memorandum of Understanding, outlining their responsibilities under the YNP.

To apply, you will need to submit a complete signed copy of the Critical Impact Worker Application Form, as well as all the other documentation specified on the application form.