Homes within reach: Kate White’s plan to lower the cost of housing for every Yukoner

October 14, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 14, 2025

Territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, Whitehorse, Yukon  – Today at 5th Avenue and Rogers Street – a lot that has sat empty for 14 years under the Conservative Yukon Party and the Liberals – Yukon NDP Leader Kate White announced her comprehensive plan to fix the housing crisis.

“Every Yukoner has been hit hard by the housing crisis,” said Kate White, Leader of the Yukon NDP. “The cost of housing went up under the Conservative Yukon Party and it went up under the Liberals.” 

While Yukoners grappled with a housing crisis, the Liberal government has inflated land prices and made it harder for builders to break ground. When the Conservative Yukon Party was in government  they cancelled $13 million for affordable homes, letting rent go up and home building screech to a halt. 

If elected, the Yukon NDP will put more homes within reach for every Yukoner, whether they are on the Yukon Housing Corporation waitlist, a renter struggling with rising costs, a builder looking to develop faster,  or someone looking to buy their first home. The plan will build new affordable housing, clear the path for builders to work faster and help first-time buyers afford a place to call home.

“Yukoners can count on our team to fix the housing crisis, once and for all.  Our plan is good for people, it’s good for jobs and it’s good for reconciliation,” said White. 

The Yukon NDP’s commitment to lower the cost of housing will:

• Lower rents and bring fairness to the rental market, keeping rent increases tied to inflation and creating a Tenant-Landlord Relations Board.
  
• Build 100 new Yukon Housing units, focused on building in communities to end the waitlist and house new healthcare and education workers. 

• Build 100 homes for first-time buyers in partnership with Yukon First Nations development corporations. Borrowing from the successful BC model, we will help people buy a home by financing 40% of the purchase price and using low- or no-cost land.  
• Fix lot development delays, speeding up the timeline for permitting and inspections, and creating a Yukon Building Code to help local builders get more homes on the market quickly.

“This is the kind of plan Yukoners like me have been waiting for,” said Lena Ware, a recent first-time home buyer. “People my age have to save for over a decade just to make enough for a down payment, but it’s never enough to keep up with the cost of buying a home in the Yukon. Every year since moving here, the cost of buying a home here has gone up – Kate’s plan to lower the cost of housing would have been a huge help, and it would have allowed me to afford to buy a home sooner.”

The Yukon NDP has called for high-density housing at 5th and Rogers since 2011, when the Conservative Yukon Party was in power. In 2024, the Liberal government finally sold the site to a development consortium, who will remediate and develop the land. The Yukon NDP believes the sale of 5th and Rogers is a positive step in the right direction, and looks forward to West End Development’s work. 

This marks the fourth election in a row where the Yukon NDP has highlighted the site’s potential, underscoring the urgent need for a government that will finally deliver. 

“Yukoners can’t afford to wait any longer,” said White. “This election, you can vote for the team you can count on to lower the cost of housing. Vote for the Yukon NDP.” 

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