Yukon University (formerly Yukon College) is a public university in the Canadian territory of the Yukon. The university main campus is based in Whitehorse, although the institution also operates 12 campuses throughout the territory. The university confers bachelor’s degrees, diplomas, certificates as well as trades and vocational training and adult basic education. The institution is currently the only university based in northern Canada.
The institution traces its origins to the Whitehorse Vocational and Technical Training Centre established in 1963; later renamed as the Yukon Vocational and Training Centre in 1965. The institution operated as a post-secondary education centre, providing vocational training for its students. During the 1980s, the institution was reorganized as a college. The institution operated as Yukon College until the institution was reorganized into a university in 2020, the first university in any of Canada’s northern territories.
Yukon University is a publicly-funded institution that operates as a “hybrid” university; serving as a research hub and offering degree programs, while also providing vocational training and trades programs typically found in Canadian colleges. The university is a member of Colleges and Institutes Canada;and is in the process of applying for membership with Universities Canada.
Yukon University offers certificates, diplomas and degrees through six academic areas – the School of Academic and Skill Development, School of Science, School of Trades, Technology and Mining, School of Health, Education and Human Services, School of Liberal Arts, and the School of Business and Leadership.
Academic programs at the university allow Yukoners to stay in the north while pursuing post-secondary studies. It also accommodates contract training demands by local industry and government in a range of specialties. Programming is delivered from campus to campus, across Yukon, through locally delivered courses and on-line learning technology. The President’s Committee on First Nation Initiatives, with representatives from all fourteen Yukon First Nations, influences programming and services delivered at the university.
With respect to research and development, the university is home to the Yukon Research Centre.