The Village of Haines Junction is breaking ground on a new healthy living centre that will transform local health and wellness while creating a roadmap for other small municipalities on climate-smart infrastructure in the Yukon. The Haines Junction healthy living centre is more than a building project — it’s a community driven investment in health, culture, recreation, and climate resilience, designed to meet local needs today while preparing for a sustainable future.
The centre will replace aging facilities and provide much-needed, safe, modern amenities for young people, elders, and families, including:
- An aquatics centre for swimming and water programs.
- A fitness area for individual and group training.
- A multipurpose space for yoga, fitness classes, and community gatherings.
Developed in partnership with the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN), the project reflects a commitment to collaboration and community-led design.
What makes this project stand out is its climate resilience focus. The municipality is committed to energy efficiency and emissions reduction in both design and operations, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and strengthening community resilience. To support this, Haines Junction worked with a climate and infrastructure expert from the CRIS Roster at no cost.
The CRIS Report assessed climate hazards that impact the facility and its community (like wildfires and wildfire smoke, extreme rainfall, and permafrost thaw), and identified adaptation measures to incorporate into the facility’s design to withstand current concerns and also future hazards. These adaptation design measures will improve the resilience of the facility under future climate conditions.
The project is also exploring the feasibility of the centre serving as a hub for a municipal campus district renewable energy system, creating shared benefits across community facilities.
The Haines Junction recreation centre is more than a building project — it’s a community-driven investment in health, culture, and climate resilience, designed to meet local needs today while preparing for a sustainable future.
