Yukon Coroner's Service

The Yukon’s Coroner’s Service serves the living through death investigations and inquests.

The chief coroner leads appointed community coroners and the Yukon Coroner’s Service in Whitehorse. While the Coroners Act has modernized the language and processes of the Yukon's guiding legislations for coroners, the duties of a coroner have changed very little since the Coroners Act first became law in 1887.

Our purpose

The coroner’s service investigates and reports on unnatural or unexpected deaths in the Yukon. The purpose of the service is to answer 5 basic questions:

  • Who died?
  • Where did they die?
  • When did they die?
  • How did they die?
  • By what means did they die?

Coroners use findings from their investigations to improve public safety and prevent future similar deaths.

Our guiding principles

  • We’re a fact-finding service, not a fault-finding service.
  • We’re independent from government, health and law enforcement agencies.
  • We serve the deceased, the deceased's relatives and friends and society as a whole.
  • We speak for the dead to protect the living.

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