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We are moving there for a year due to my schooling. I'm just looking for some personal experience about the weather, people, stores, schools, sites, etc etc. Anything you can think of, I'd like to know.
And do you have any advice or suggestions for my family? I am in Ontario, Canada btw.
Answer
I live in the Yukon. I'm in the Klondike Valley, near Dawson City.
It depends a lot on where you go. Whitehorse is a small city - about 26,000 people. For services, it might be comparable to Napanee, or Smith's Falls maybe. There is no mall for example - just a WalMart, and a Canadian Tire, and a couple strip malls.
The "communities" (the places outside Whitehorse) are considerably smaller. Dawson City is the biggest, with about 1800 people. There are a lot more in summer, but, winter, it's a pretty small place. Things are VERY expensive - food, fuel, and so on.
Other places are even smaller - many have only 1 store.
Schooling is actually really good. We use the BC school system, but, the spending per student is the highest in the country - at least double what spending is in Ontario per student. So, class sizes are smaller, and there is lots of individual help and so on for those who need it. There are quite a few trips - in Dawson, you play a sports team from the next high school, we pretty much need to go to Whitehorse, which is 6 hours away, and would need an overnight stay. But, there is money for stuff like that.
The people are a mix. The proportion of native people is very high - 1/3 in Dawson, for example. In the schools, native languages are taught, and there are often signs all over in English, French, and whatever the native language is for that place. Whitehorse has many people from the Philippines, due to a government program. Yukon tends to be less ethnically diverse than Ontario, but, there are different peoples here.
Yukoners are generally the rugged, tough individuals that you find in the stereotypes. Women are absolutely equal to men here, and seeing a woman driving a grader clearing roads is not uncommon at all. There is a strong artistic side in many communities, especially Dawson, but, the tough individualism is strong. But, so is tolerance. If you want to live a different way, with your own ideas, you are much freer here than in many places. There is little of the "keeping up with the Jones." You could be a millionaire, and live in a tent, all year round. It happens.
The place is new - until the Gold Rush in 1898, there were only a handful of non-natives even here. Even now, there are more moose than people - literally. Most of Yukon is empty - just mountains and wilderness. There are historical sites, and such, but, nothing truly "old." Except for all the mammoth bones and stuff they find in the Permafrost. Lots of that around.
Stores - well, if you love shopping, you are going to be disappointed. Even Whitehorse only has so much, and in other places, there is little. But, fashion means practically nothing. Women rarely wear dresses (outside of Whitehorse anyway), and the only guy here who wears a tie at all is the bank manager - but, he's new in from the South. Things are pretty casual, dress wise - mostly due to the climate.
Winters here are COLD! I mean COLD. Like nothing you have experienced in Ontario. It is dry, so, it doesn't feel too bad, but... and example: in Dawson the elementary kids are sent out to play at recess and lunch down to about -30C. Of course, before and after school, they will happily play outside at much cooler temperatures than that. In winter it is dark - sun is up where I am only 3 1/2 hours a day, but, that doesn't include the mountains. I have 2 months at my house with no son at all. But, kids don't seem to care - they will play on the swings, in the dark, down to nearly -40C. You really do get used to it!
It is a wilderness playground here - no doubt about that. If you love the outdoors, Yukon is the place to be.
I live in the Yukon. I'm in the Klondike Valley, near Dawson City.
It depends a lot on where you go. Whitehorse is a small city - about 26,000 people. For services, it might be comparable to Napanee, or Smith's Falls maybe. There is no mall for example - just a WalMart, and a Canadian Tire, and a couple strip malls.
The "communities" (the places outside Whitehorse) are considerably smaller. Dawson City is the biggest, with about 1800 people. There are a lot more in summer, but, winter, it's a pretty small place. Things are VERY expensive - food, fuel, and so on.
Other places are even smaller - many have only 1 store.
Schooling is actually really good. We use the BC school system, but, the spending per student is the highest in the country - at least double what spending is in Ontario per student. So, class sizes are smaller, and there is lots of individual help and so on for those who need it. There are quite a few trips - in Dawson, you play a sports team from the next high school, we pretty much need to go to Whitehorse, which is 6 hours away, and would need an overnight stay. But, there is money for stuff like that.
The people are a mix. The proportion of native people is very high - 1/3 in Dawson, for example. In the schools, native languages are taught, and there are often signs all over in English, French, and whatever the native language is for that place. Whitehorse has many people from the Philippines, due to a government program. Yukon tends to be less ethnically diverse than Ontario, but, there are different peoples here.
Yukoners are generally the rugged, tough individuals that you find in the stereotypes. Women are absolutely equal to men here, and seeing a woman driving a grader clearing roads is not uncommon at all. There is a strong artistic side in many communities, especially Dawson, but, the tough individualism is strong. But, so is tolerance. If you want to live a different way, with your own ideas, you are much freer here than in many places. There is little of the "keeping up with the Jones." You could be a millionaire, and live in a tent, all year round. It happens.
The place is new - until the Gold Rush in 1898, there were only a handful of non-natives even here. Even now, there are more moose than people - literally. Most of Yukon is empty - just mountains and wilderness. There are historical sites, and such, but, nothing truly "old." Except for all the mammoth bones and stuff they find in the Permafrost. Lots of that around.
Stores - well, if you love shopping, you are going to be disappointed. Even Whitehorse only has so much, and in other places, there is little. But, fashion means practically nothing. Women rarely wear dresses (outside of Whitehorse anyway), and the only guy here who wears a tie at all is the bank manager - but, he's new in from the South. Things are pretty casual, dress wise - mostly due to the climate.
Winters here are COLD! I mean COLD. Like nothing you have experienced in Ontario. It is dry, so, it doesn't feel too bad, but... and example: in Dawson the elementary kids are sent out to play at recess and lunch down to about -30C. Of course, before and after school, they will happily play outside at much cooler temperatures than that. In winter it is dark - sun is up where I am only 3 1/2 hours a day, but, that doesn't include the mountains. I have 2 months at my house with no son at all. But, kids don't seem to care - they will play on the swings, in the dark, down to nearly -40C. You really do get used to it!
It is a wilderness playground here - no doubt about that. If you love the outdoors, Yukon is the place to be.
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