The modernized Exemption Act and Garnishee Act now in effect

In spring 2024, the Yukon Legislative Assembly passed the modernized Exemption Act and the amended Garnishee Act, both of which came into effect on Thursday, August 29, 2025, with the publishing of the Exemption Regulation and the Garnishee Regulation, respectively. 

These regulatory changes allow debtors to maintain a reasonable standard of living and to continue earning an income while going through bankruptcy or a money judgment. The intention is to protect and support debtors while ensuring creditors’ rights are met.

Both regulations introduce an “evergreen clause” to ensure monetary values governing exemptions and garnished wages are updated annually in line with the Consumer Price Index. Amounts will be searchable online at Yukon.ca. Updated values are calculated in September and come into effect in November annually. 

The Exemption Regulation exempts the following items with no limits:

• household furnishings;
• companion and service animals;
• clothing;
• prepaid funeral expenses;
• burial plots;
• medical and dental equipment; and
• food and fuel.

Exemptions may be provided for other necessities at judicial discretion.

The Regulation also exempts the following items with their associated maximum monetary values for this 2025–26 fiscal year:

• a vehicle for personal use up to $10,000;
• a primary residence up to $35,000;
• tools-of-the-trade up to $15,000; and
• hunting, trapping or fishing equipment up to $15,000.

The Garnishee Regulation establishes the following monthly wage exemption that a debtor is permitted to keep when their wages are garnished:

• a wage exemption of $2,000 per month for a debtor with no dependants;
• a wage exemption of $3,000 per month for a debtor with one dependant:
• an additional $500 per month for each additional dependant; and
• a clause setting the timing of the monthly wage exemption to the date that the writ of the garnishment was issued.

Licensed Insolvency Trustees, who help debtors through the bankruptcy process, were engaged throughout this process. Their responses helped establish the maximum dollar values of exempted items as well as provided recommendations on the monthly wage exemptions for garnished wages. Licensed Insolvency Trustees serve as the front line for the implementation of the Exemption Regulation in the case of bankruptcy.