The Social Assistance Summaries series tracks the number of recipients of social assistance (welfare payments) in each province and territory.
In this section you will find:
Yukon’s social assistance program (description)
Social assistance is the income program of last resort. It is intended for households who have exhausted all other means of financial support. Every province and territory has its own social assistance program(s), and no two are the same. For modelling of total incomes available to social assistance recipients, visit the Welfare in Canada report.
In the Yukon, the Social Assistance (SA) program provides benefits to eligible adults and children. General assistance includes amounts provided for items of basic maintenance and items of supplementary need. Discretionary aid over and above general assistance may be provided to SA recipients to meet unexpected, short-term, or emergency needs, or to non-recipients to prevent or alleviate an immediate health or safety risk.
- Items of basic maintenance consist of a basic allowance (towards the cost of food, clothing, and personal and household items) and a shelter allowance (towards the cost of shelter and utilities). The amount of support available is based on the size, composition, and geographical location of the household. Recipients may also qualify for the Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA)—a benefit for those excluded from the workforce due to disability or age.
- Items of supplementary need are available to recipients after six consecutive months on SA or immediately to children and YSA recipients. These items consist of allowances for needs such as transportation, telephone, laundry, winter clothing, and furniture, and a Christmas allowance, among others.
- Discretionary aid may be provided at the Director’s discretion for needs such as necessary health care services (for example, prescriptions, medical travel, dental services, optical services, and medical equipment and supplies), shelter security deposits, moving expenses, storage, employment expenses, or education expenses.
The Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) is an additional $250 monthly benefit for adult recipients who are excluded from the labour force due to either being age 65 and older or a severe and prolonged disability, defined as a significant functional impairment that is expected to persist for an extended duration. Eligibility is based on the Social Assistance social worker’s determination and may require an additional self-report and/or a health practitioner’s assessment.
How many people claim social assistance?
In 2023-24, there were on average 920 cases (families and single adults) and 1,290 beneficiaries (individual claimants, their partners, and dependent children) in the Yukon’s Social Assistance program. Both numbers slightly increased from the previous year. This is the first year of growth after three consecutive years of decline.
Within the Social Assistance program, about 530 cases and 630 beneficiaries received the Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) in 2023-24. This means about 58 per cent of cases and 49 per cent of beneficiaries of Social Assistance received the YSA in 2023-24.
To access data on cases and beneficiaries of social assistance in the Yukon, including disaggregated data, download the spreadsheet here.
Figure 1YT: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of Social Assistance in the Yukon, 1997 to 2023-24
Note: The data reflects the number of cases and beneficiaries on March 31 of each year from 1997 to 2018, and the average over the fiscal year (April to March) from 2018-19 onward.
Figure 2YT: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of the Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) under Social Assistance, 2020-21 to 2023-24
What proportion of the population receives social assistance?
On average, 3.4 per cent of people in the Yukon under 65 received Social Assistance in 2023-24, which is about 1 in 29.
Note: The total population under 65 is estimated on July 1 of the fiscal year (e.g., July 1, 2023, for 2023-24), whereas social assistance beneficiary data is a fiscal year average (April 1 to March 31) from 2018-19 onward, and a point-in-time count on March 31 of a given year from 1997 to 2018.
Figure 3YT: Yearly beneficiaries of Social Assistance as a proportion of the under-65 population of the Yukon, 1997 to 2023-24
Who is receiving social assistance (disaggregated data)?
This section examines disaggregated data on cases and beneficiaries by household type, and cases receiving employment income.
- Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
- Beneficiaries by gender;
- Heads of household by gender for unattached singles and single parents;
- Adult beneficiaries by age category; and
- Cases receiving employment income.
Note that the figures below represent percentages but total numbers are available.
Household type
On average, in 2023-24, unattached singles were the majority household of both cases and beneficiaries of the Yukon’s Social Assistance program, representing 725 (about 79 per cent of cases and 56 per cent of beneficiaries). Single parents were second, representing 154 cases (about 17 per cent) and 435 beneficiaries (38 per cent).
Among those who received YSA under Social Assistance, on average, 474 (just over 89 per cent of cases and 75 per cent of beneficiaries) were unattached singles in 2023-24. Single parents were second, representing 39 cases (just over 7 per cent) and 103 beneficiaries (just over 16 per cent).
Figure 4YT: Cases and beneficiaries of Social Assistance by household in the Yukon, 2020-21 to 2023-24
Cases
Beneficiaries
Figure 5YT: Cases and beneficiaries of the Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) under Social Assistance by household, 2020-21 to 2023-24
Cases
Beneficiaries
Employment Income
In the Yukon, employment income is defined as earned income obtained through employment, and includes:
- gratuities (tips);
- income from any business carried out by the recipient;
- salary, wages, and other remuneration; and
- stipends (for example, an allowance for attending a program).
In 2023-24, on average, 10.5 per cent of Social Assistance cases had employment income. Cases receiving the YSA under Social Assistance are more likely to have employment income at 11.1 per cent. This is the first time since including employment income in 2020-21 that the numbers declined.
Figure 6YT: Percentage of Social Assistance cases and Social Assistance cases who receive the Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) with employment income, 2020-21 to 2023-24
Additional disaggregated data on gender and age is available for download below.
It’s important to note that while the gender distribution of Social Assistance and the Yukon Supplementary Allowance is typically balanced between males and females, the gender of single households reveals a more pronounced gender pattern. Typically, unattached singles are predominantly male, while single parents are primarily female.
Access to data
The data on social assistance recipients in the Yukon is available for download, including:
- Total number of cases and beneficiaries;
- Percentage of beneficiaries relative to the total under-65 population;
- Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
- Beneficiaries by gender;
- Single households by gender;
- Adults beneficiaries by age category; and
- Percentage of cases receiving employment income.
Data notes
- These numbers represent only clients served by the Yukon Government. They do not include clients served by the Government of Canada (Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) or the self-governing First Nations that administer their own social assistance programs.
- The data reflects the number of cases and beneficiaries on March 31 of each year from 1997 to 2018, and the average over the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) from 2018-19 onward.
- The breakdown by gender (which has been included from 2020-21 onward) only captures beneficiaries identifying as female or male and does not capture beneficiaries where gender is recorded as “another gender”, “not provided” or “prefer not to report”.
- Yukon Supplementary Allowance (YSA) data represents all cases where at least one household member is receiving the YSA benefit due to a disability or age 65+. Beneficiaries include other household members who may not be in receipt of the YSA themselves.
- Click here for more information about how the data is gathered.