Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced approximately $27 million in COVID-19 relief funding for the Yukon, as part of a larger funding package promised to the northern territories.

“If you live in the North, chances are you are worried your local health centre has the resources to fight COVID-19 and cope with cases that might come up,” Trudeau told reporters this morning outside his Ottawa home.

“So we’re providing $76.2 million to Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut for health care and community preparedness,” Trudeau said.

The Yukon’s Liberal MP, Larry Bagnell, told the Star this morning that Yukon-specific funding will be funneled into four areas.

The Yukon will receive $18.4 million for health and social services prevention and response. The territories as a whole will be given $72.6 million.

Air services in the Yukon will receive $3.6 million to ensure maintained access to remote communities. The northern package for air services is $17.3 million.

All three territories will receive a total of $15 million in non-repayable support for businesses. Bagnell told the Star that the Yukon will likely receive $5 million of this.

An additional $25 million will be provided to Nutrition North Canada, to enrich the subsidies for nutritious foods. Personal hygiene and cleaning products will be added to the list of products that are now subsidized.

Old Crow, the Yukon’s sole fly-in community, is the only jurisdiction eligible for the Nutrition North subsidy.

Northerners will also receive aid through the Harvesters Support Grant, a grant that subsidizes traditional foods and alleviates the high costs associated with hunting and harvesting activities in First Nation communities.

This funding package will be added to the $500 million in transfers already promised to the provinces and territories. The Yukon received $543,107 from the federal government in this first transfer.

Bagnell said the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), for which he is parliamentary secretary, has been working closely with the Yukon government and First Nation governments to secure funding for the territory.

He said this new funding package endeavours to keep small and medium-sized businesses from slipping through the cracks during the pandemic.

“It’s supposed to be complementary, we have a whole suite of other (federal) programs for other businesses,” Bagnell said.

“We’re just sorting out the details with the territorial government about how exactly that will be delivered; CanNor hopes it will stop the closure of 700 to 1,500 of small and medium businesses.

“The Yukon Chamber of Commerce suggested, from one of their surveys, that half of small and medium-sized businesses would have a hard time, so this is to strategically be used to prevent that from happening.”

Bagnell said CanNor has worked closely with Ranj Pillai, the territorial minister of Economic Development, on securing aid for businesses.

“We are trying to come up with supports that will fit the North, because of the special situation that we have,” Bagnell said.

Last Thursday, Pillai announced fixed-cost grants for Yukon businesses. Bagnell said this announcement was made with the understanding that funding would be provided from the federal government.

“The territorial government has very close relations to the business community as well, so combined efforts to make sure the support is complementary,” Bagnell said.