Despite the dire picture Premier Currie Dixon is painting of the Yukon government’s finances, he says he isn’t looking at immediately cutting frontline services.

But that could change, Dixon warned.

“We have known for some time that the territory’s public finances were in a challenging situation, but that’s become a lot more real for us,” he said.

“It’s going to affect the way that we move ahead across a range of different files and will affect the way that we, you know, fulfill our commitments to Yukoners that we made in the last election.”

Dixon said his government hit 100 days in office on March 2. During the 2025 territorial elections, the Yukon Party campaigned on change.

The Nov. 3, 2025 electio saw six incumbent and eight new Yukon Party MLAs elected to form the largest majority government in the territory’s history. The Yukon NDP took on the role of Official Opposition, with six members of the legislative assembly (MLAs). The Yukon Liberal Party’s only MLA with a seat in the legislature comprises the third party.

Dixon said his team hit the ground running upon being elected and sworn in. The government tabled a mini budget soon after, held a short fall sitting of the legislative assembly and met with Yukon First Nations at the Yukon Forum.

Dixon’s cabinet ministers recently outlined how they plan to carry out the government’s mandate.

Making Major Projects Yukon the central assessment authority on major projects, advancing proposed projects such as Yukon-B.C. grid connect and the Whitehorse General Hospital expansion, and reviewing and changing the operating model of the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter are among items prioritized in the ministers’ mandate response letters.

Part of the challenge is implementing the government’s mandate without spending too much money, Dixon said.

“The Yukon government is going to have to make some changes to the way it operates,” Dixon said.

Dixon said the government has a “structural cash deficit.” Meanwhile, the Yukon sits at about $900 million out of its $1.2-billion debt cap. He wants the federal government to substantially raise the debt limit. He said that decision remains in Ottawa’s hands.

Dixon hinted that he will have more to say after the territorial budget is tabled on March 19.

NDP Leader Kate White criticized the government’s mandate for a lack of details and concrete direction. In a statement, White said peoples’ concerns about paying for groceries and rent are missing from the ministers’ responses.

Looking back on the Yukon Party’s first three months in power, White said certain early decisions by the new government will deeply impact people.

White said the government’s choice not to extend a free transit program in Whitehorse will affect seniors as well as people with disabilities and those living in poverty. Eliminating the rent cap will hurt tenants, she said.

“There have been a lot of things that have happened in 100 days that have many Yukoners concerned about like the next four years,” she said.

White said the NDP has been hearing from government workers who say departments are being notified of budget cuts.

White is waiting to see what the Yukon Party’s first full budget looks like.

“Because with that, we’re going to start to see a lot of where those cuts are,” she said.

The Liberals did not respond to a request for comment from interim leader Debra-Leigh Reti before deadline.

On Feb. 19, the same day Dixon issued a public statement drawing attention to the state of the territory’s finances, an order in council increased the number of staff the cabinet office can hire from 25 to 32.

Dixon said the authority to hire more staff reflects the biggest caucus in the Yukon’s history.

There has also been talk around creating a new associate deputy minister position in the Executive Council Office, he said.

“We’ll hire responsibly and we’ll hire within our budget, but we have to make sure that MLAs, both government MLAs and non-government MLAs, are supported in the work that they do,” Dixon said.