Yukon Pharmacists Shoulder a Growing Share of the Territory's Primary Care

Yukon pharmacists say they're absorbing a growing share of day-to-day primary care as the territory faces a family-doctor shortage and long clinic and hospital wait times, CBC News reported February 20, 2026.

Key takeaways

• Yukon's government has gradually expanded pharmacists' scope: 2019 regulations let pharmacists administer vaccines, and in 2022, pandemic-era rules allowing prescription extensions and new prescriptions for minor conditions such as UTIs and pinkeye were made permanent.
• Sunjin Han, a fourth-year University of Manitoba pharmacy student who completed a two-month Whitehorse pharmacy internship, said many patients lacked clear information about why they were taking their medications in the first place.
• Edmund Tan, who owns both Whitehorse Shoppers Drug Mart locations, said longer pharmacy hours plus expanded authority are driving more patients to seek care directly from pharmacists.
• Yukon Health Minister Brad Cathers said the government is "actively considering" further expanding pharmacists' scope, following recent meetings with pharmacists on the issue.

Where access is uneven

Access to this expanded pharmacist care remains uneven outside Whitehorse, where most of the territory's pharmacies are concentrated. Rural patients often get advice by phone, with prescriptions mailed out rather than handled in person. Tan argued Yukon still lags other Canadian jurisdictions on prescribing and medication-management scope, despite the steps taken since 2019.

Cathers acknowledged a "very solid case" that broader pharmacist scope could reduce emergency-room and walk-in-clinic visits, though he could not yet give specifics pending further consultation with pharmacists and doctors. The government's interest follows a Yukon Party election promise from the prior fall campaign.

Practice guidance for pharmacists

• Take extra time reviewing why a medication was started with patients, particularly those who may not have had consistent access to a family physician -- this was flagged as a specific gap by an intern working directly with Yukon patients.
• Pharmacists in or near Whitehorse should expect continued growth in walk-in demand for minor-ailment assessment and prescribing as awareness of the existing 2022 authority spreads.
• Rural and remote pharmacists should look for ways to reduce reliance on phone-only consultations and mail-out prescriptions where possible, given the access gap this creates relative to Whitehorse.
• Watch for a formal scope-expansion announcement following the government's stated consultations with pharmacists and doctors, and be ready to adjust workflows if new authorities are added.

What's next

Yukon Health Minister Brad Cathers has not given a timeline for a decision on further scope expansion, saying specifics await further consultation with pharmacists and physicians.