Yukon University (formerly Yukon College) is a public university in the Canadian territory of Yukon. The university main campus is based in Whitehorse, although the institution also operates 12 campuses throughout the territory. The university confers bachelor's degrees, diplomas, certificates as well as trades and vocational training and adult basic education. The institution is currently the only university based in northern Canada. The institution traces its origins to the Whitehorse Vocational and Technical Training Centre established in 1963; later renamed as the Yukon Vocational and Training Centre in 1965. The institution operated as a post-secondary education centre, providing vocational training for its students. During the 1980s, the institution was reorganized as a college. The institution operated as Yukon College until the institution was reorganized into a university in 2020, the first university in any of Canada's northern territories. History The institution originates from the Whitehorse Vocational and Technical Training Centre (renamed the Yukon Vocational and Technical Training Centre in 1965). The institution changed its name to Yukon College in 1983, although it was not formally designated as a college until 1988, with the passage of the College Act, 1988. The institution opened its new campus, from its original location on the bank of the Yukon River in the suburb of Riverdale in the same year. In 1989, the College Act was amended, providing the college with an independent Board of Governors. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the institution began to offer several degree programs in partnership with the University of Alberta, and the University of Regina. During this period, the institution also opened several satellite campuses in a number of First Nations communities. The Northern Research Centre (later renamed the Yukon Research Centre in 2009, and since 2020 named the YukonU Research Centre) was established in 1990 for the purposes of researching mine reclamation, cold climate construction, and climate change. Efforts to reorganize the institution into a university began with the Government of Yukon in 2011, with its reorganization into a university listed in the college's 2013 and 2016 strategic plans. In 2016, the college was admitted as a member of the BC Association of Institutes and Universities, an institution that represents eight post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, as well as Yukon College. In 2018, the college created its first degree program specialized for the territory, a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous governance. In November 2019, the Yukon University