The Yukon is well-positioned to not only welcome but retain newcomers to the territory for the long run, a federal minister believes.

With a retention rate of about 80 per cent, the region is doing a good job of drawing and keeping immigrants in the territory. That’s according to Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, who visited Whitehorse last week.

“I think retention is really important; it’s not enough to attract skilled immigrants to certain parts of Canada but also retain them,” he said.

“But I must admit,” he added to his Yukon audience, “you’re doing very well here.”

That’s in comparison to areas of Atlantic Canada, where retention rates sit at about 60 per cent: “it’s actually almost the opposite” focus, Hussen said.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell also spoke at a meeting held last Wednesday discussing immigration and featuring himself, Hussen and Economic Development Minister Ranj Pillai. Bagnell noted that his office has dealt with newcomers from more than 50 countries this year.

With more and more people coming to the Yukon and choosing to stay in the territory, though, can come the increased need for housing – something the federal government is well aware of, said Bagnell.

“It’s a problem right across Canada. We certainly heard in the roundtables today for both the government and private sector that housing is a big issue when you’re employing people,” Bagnell added.

“There’s a lot more coming – stay tuned,” he smiled.

Pillai represented the Yukon at a federal, territorial and provincial forum of ministers responsible for immigration in Winnipeg in July. He acknowledged that this was not an unheard of concern for his government either.

“Those pressures were there” when the Yukon Liberals took office in December 2016, he said.

It’s also partly why the territory hosted Hussen, Pillai continued.

“There’s a real collaborative effort on how we get lots out, what are some new extraordinary ways that we can work with the private sector to fill that housing gap.”

According to the federal Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the country hopes to attract just over 300,000 permanent residents as part of its 2018 multi-year immigration levels (as of November 2017).

By 2020, that number is expected to jump closer to 340,000 – with most of the permanent residents coming through the economic immigration category.

That seems to be in line with Pillai’s statements in July about economic immigration continuing to be a priority in the coming years for the territory.