From May 16th to May 24th, sixteen students and 6 staff members from St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary school will head north to the Diocese of Whitehorse in the Yukon on a Catholic Mission experience. With the blessing and direction of Bishop Gary Gordon, our group will experience the vastness of the north and help work on 2 Mission projects. Bishop Gary has been an integral of our preparation and has challenged us to make to this a truly spiritual experience.


During the first few days of the Mission trip, we will help restore and “facelift” Camp Braeburn, a Christian Youth Camp for at risk children of the Territory. Camp Braeburn is 100 kms North of Whitehorse.  When we have finished working at the camp, we head to Burwash Landing a remote Catholic Mission that serves a First Nation Community. We will be scraping and staining the Catholic Church at Burwash Landing. At the end of the week, we head to Kluane National Park to hike up Sheep Mountain with 2 guides from the Territory.


This uniquely Canadian Catholic Mission trip will expose the students to the First Nation culture, the rugged beauty of the area and the role and identity of the Canadian Catholic Church in the North.  We will also build a Mission spirit among our students because there are no showers or toilets at the camp and they will work long hours, preparing meals for and praying with each other. 

Accompanying us on our journey will be two crewmembers from Salt and Light Television. They will be using our trip as a springboard to highlight the work of Canada Catholic Missions in the Yukon. We are very excited about this trip and are diligently working towards defraying the cost and spiritually preparing ourselves for the experience.