Dawson City, Yukon - Yukon’s tourism industry is buzzing with excitement as Canada’s northernmost border prepares to open next week for the first time since before the pandemic, according to the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City.

Ricky Mawunganidze said the ferry used to access the border from the Canadian side began operating Thursday and ice has been cleared from the highway, meaning people will be able to reach the border when it reopens on June 1.

The Little Gold - Poker Creek crossing is open only during the summer months and due to COVID-19, it has not been in operation since September 22, 2019.

Ricky Mawunganidze said local businesses are eager to start the season.

“Our operators are already seeing high occupancy” “We are getting a lot of calls from people looking forward to coming in June, which is when we start.” “At the moment, people are organizing themselves only, and there is definitely positive buzz about the possibility of more tourists arriving.”

The border crossing is located on the Top of the World Highway, separating Yukon and Alaska. It is the main tourist route for those visiting Dawson City, the small mining and tourist town along the Yukon River, about 533 kilometres north of Whitehorse.

Accessing the border from Dawson City means taking a short ferry ride across the river, then driving about 100 kilometres.

Americans typically make up most of the territory’s tourists. A 2017-2018 Yukon survey showed there were 491,300 visitors to the territory between November 2017 and October 2018. Sixty-two percent of those were Americans.

The Dawson City website declared that the town accepts U.S. currency.

Canada Border Services Agency delayed the border opening by about two weeks compared to what the city has been used to in past years and it will close on September 1, about two weeks earlier than it was pre-pandemic. It said in a statement it will also operate under reduced hours, closing at 7 p.m.

The delayed opening is not unusual as it depends on river height and ice melt but the city is pressing the government to allow the border to stay open until mid-September.

“The operational level needs to rise this year to rebuild confidence in the industry. There is greater desire this year to extend our season as much as we can.”

Yukon’s tourism minister, Ranj Pillai, said in an interview he is “really pleased” that all border crossings in the territory will open this summer, noting about 13,000 people crossed the Little Gold border in 2019.

“All of our government and private sector workers are working closely to improve the opportunity that everyone badly needs after the two years the tourism sector has gone through, and I think we will be fine by summer.”

Pillai said a new source of tourism revenue comes in the form of direct flights now offered between Whitehorse and Toronto. The first flight took off on May 10.

Tourism in Dawson already boomed last year due to Canadian visitors, creating a new challenge and staff shortages.

He said the industry relies on young workers migrating to Dawson in the summer to fill seasonal jobs but that has not happened since 2019. With about 200 jobs still available and vacant, he said operators are concerned there will not be enough workers available again this year.

“We desperately need seasonal labour. We have many great jobs and great experiences, and we want people to come join us in the summer.”

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair