Families across Yukon are calling on the territorial government to move immediately from considering disability legislation to developing and implementing a Yukon Disability Act now — with lived-experience disability community members and caregiver households leading its design as subject-matter experts.

 

On April 1, 2026, during debate on Motion No. 30 in the Yukon Legislative Assembly, a motion urging government to develop disability legislation was amended to instead “consider the development of” legislation.

 

While agreement in principle is an important step, Yukon families cannot wait for indefinite consideration.

 

We need action now.

 

This petition is brought forward by Georgette Aisaican, acting in the name of Yukon Caregivers for Ongoing Dignity (YCOD) — an emerging caregiver-led rise for action, awareness, and advocacy across Yukon supporting disability-impacted households across the lifespan. YCOD reflects the growing voice of families calling for coordinated territorial leadership and meaningful collaboration with lived-experience experts. The initiative is currently developing as a community advocacy effort and may evolve into a formal organization as capacity and feasibility allow.

 

Because disability supports in Yukon depend on coordinated action across Health and Social Services, Housing, Education, Justice, and Highways and Public Works, a Yukon Disability Act must be developed as a whole-government initiative from the beginning.

 

WE ARE CALLING ON THE YUKON GOVERNMENT TO

 

1. Begin development of a Yukon Disability Act immediately

 

Yukon needs legislation — not prolonged consideration.

 

A territorial Disability Act would:

• establish accessibility expectations

• strengthen accountability across departments

• improve coordination across systems

• support aging in place

• stabilize transitions into adulthood

• align Yukon with accessibility progress across Canada

 

Most Canadian jurisdictions already have accessibility legislation… all but two provinces yet no territory does.

 

Yukon families deserve the same protections.

 

2. Design the Act with lived-experience community members leading the process as experts

 

People living with disabilities and family caregivers are not stakeholders at the margins.

 

They are system experts.

 

Legislation must be built with the disability community at the front of the design process, not consulted after decisions are made.

 

This reflects the national disability principle:

 

Nothing About Us Without Us

 

 

3. Establish clear timelines and public reporting for legislative progress

 

Families need clarity about:

 

• consultation timelines

• drafting timelines

• implementation targets

• accountability measures

 

Commitment without timelines leaves families navigating instability alone.

 

4. Stabilize disability service pathways across the lifespan

 

Supports must remain continuous through:

• early childhood

• school-age years

• transition into adulthood

• adulthood

• aging in place

 

Disability does not begin or end at age thresholds.

 

Policy shouldn’t either.

 

 

5. Recognize family caregivers as essential partners in the care system

 

Family caregivers provide medical coordination, mobility support, communication assistance, transportation, advocacy, daily living support, and long-term continuity of care across decades.

 

This work sustains Yukon’s disability support system and must be reflected in territorial legislation and planning.

 

6. Improve access to medically necessary supports for adults with complex disabilities

 

Including:

• dental access

• assistive technology

• seating and mobility systems

• communication supports

• rural and community-based centres for gathering, sharing, working together to create sustainable care systems and solutions 

 

Access delays create preventable dangerous harms

 

NATIONAL SUPPORT

 

This work is supported by national disability advocacy organizations including:

 

Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC)

DisAbled Women’s Network Canada (DAWN Canada)

 

Their endorsement reflects the importance of ensuring disability legislation in Yukon is developed with lived-experience leadership and aligned with national accessibility progress.

 

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

 

Across Yukon Disability infrastructures and supports are way behind 

 

families are coordinating services between departments

caregivers are working unpaid at professional levels

adult transitions remain unstable

rural communities face additional barriers

and disability supports remain fragmented across systems

 

Caregiver households are absorbing the cost of service pathway instability.

 

Agreement to consider legislation is not the same as developing legislation.

 

Yukon families need action now.

 

 

SIGN THIS PETITION TO SUPPORT

 

✔ development of a Yukon Disability Act now

✔ legislation designed with lived-experience experts

✔ clear timelines for implementation

✔ stable disability service pathways

✔ recognition of caregivers

✔ improved access to medically necessary supports

✔ aging in place with dignity

 

Yukon families deserve modern disability legislation… and it impacts us all in some way at some point in time. 

 

Signed,

 

Georgette Aisaican

Founder, Yukon Caregivers for Ongoing Dignity (YCOD)

Acting in the name of caregiver households and disability-impacted families across Yukon