About Inclusion Yukon
Our Mission
We work alongside people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and communities to advance rights, remove barriers, and build inclusive systems through individualized support, advocacy, public education, and community outreach.
Our Vision
We envision a Yukon where people with disabilities are valued, supported, and empowered to lead full lives of their own choosing, where inherent worth and rights are upheld, and where disability is embraced as a vital part of our communities’ diversity and strength.
Our Values
Person-Centered & Self-Determined
We believe people with disabilities are experts in their own lives and have the right to make choices about their futures, supports, and identities.
Disability as Diversity
We understand disability and neurodivergence as natural and valuable parts of human diversity, and not something to be fixed, hidden, or managed.
Community & Belonging
We believe strong communities are built through relationships, interdependence, and shared responsibility, where everyone has a place and a role.
Equity & Justice
We work to challenge ableism and systemic barriers, recognizing that inclusion requires changes to individual attitudes, policies, and structures.
Respect & Care
We commit to acting with integrity, humility, and care in our relationships, while remaining accountable to the people and communities we serve.
Our History
Our organization began in March 1964 when the then Yukon Social Services Society organized a group to develop programs to assist children with intellectual disabilities in the Yukon and develop facilities in the territory. As a result, the Yukon Association for Retarded Children was incorporated in October, 1964. (Note: This name reflects language that was used in the 1960s. Today, the term “retarded” is recognized as a slur that harms people with intellectual disabilities, and we do not use it.)
Over the years, coalitions were built with Yukon Special Olympics and Learning Disabilities Association of Yukon. This umbrella organization was called Yukon Association for Special Needs People. However, as each group became more focused, there was a need to establish an autonomous organization that concentrated on community living for people labelled as mentally disabled.
Our name was changed to Yukon Association for Community Living in 1988, consistent with the philosophy and name of our affiliate the Canadian Association for Community Living. People with disabilities and their families were advocating to be able to live within the community and be able to exercise their own rights, as there were many human rights violations that took place while folks with disabilities were living in institutions. In the Yukon context, many folks had lived in an institution in British Columbia called Woodlands - an place that was eventually closed due to strikes and
protests resulting from abuse that happened there. In 1989, Yukoners who were at Woodlands came home to the Yukon and had supports through Teegatha’Oh Zheh (a Gwich’in phrase which means, “Coming home over the same trail on which you left.”)
In 2019, organizations were shifted at the national level through demonstrations by people with intellectual disabilities who felt that old labels were derogatory and demeaning. This resulted in our name changing to Inclusion Yukon, in line with our parent organization, Inclusion Canada.
Over the years, our staff, board, and membership have built a substantial base of knowledge and expertise. Inclusion Yukon has spearheaded research studies on topics like Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, childcare, respite care, guardianship and supported decision-making, and the relationship between substance abuse and disability.
In addition, Inclusion Yukon has been instrumental in the establishment of: The Child Development Centre, Opportunities Yukon, Teegatha’oh Zheh, Options for Independence, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society of Yukon, People First Society of Yukon, and housed the Snoezelen Room (controlled multi-sensory environment) for several years. We played an important advocacy and consultancy role in development and review of the Yukon Education Act and the Yukon College development of the Child Care Training project.
Contact us
You can reach out to us at by phone at (867) 667-4606, or send us an email by filling out our contact form. We will in touch with you shortly!