CECW Information Sheet #58E. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work.
Although they are large in size, Canada’s three northern territories are more sparsely populated than the provinces and have a much higher proportion of Aboriginal people in their populations. The Yukon is the westernmost of Canada’s three territories. Yukon’s land mass of 478,970 square kilometres is populated by 32,714 people, for 0.7 person per square kilometre. Approximately 25% of the Yukon’s population are of Aboriginal origin.
Because of the relatively small populations, social workers in the territories also tend to play a much more general role than their southern counterparts. In the Yukon, child protection workers and supervisors in the communities outside of Whitehorse are also responsible for providing broad-based social services, including social assistance, services to seniors and persons with disabilities, youth justice services, etc. In Whitehorse, social workers carry specialized child welfare caseloads.