Mile 203 Dempster Highway Airport

Economic and logistical obsolescence. The airstrip was one of several built to support the construction of the Dempster Highway. Its primary function was to fly in personnel, equipment, and supplies to remote construction camps. Once the highway was completed and opened to traffic, road transport became the far more economical and practical method for logistics, rendering the dedicated support airstrip redundant.

The site is not a distinct, separate airfield but rather a long, straight, and wide section of the Dempster Highway itself, located near the Ogilvie River bridge. This section was intentionally designed and graded to double as an emergency landing strip. Today, its primary and continuous use is as a public roadway, forming part of the Dempster Highway (Yukon Highway 5). While no longer a registered aerodrome, its design means it could potentially be used for an emergency aircraft landing.

The airstrip was a critical piece of infrastructure during the construction of the Dempster Highway (1959-1979), a monumental engineering project that created the first all-weather road to cross the Arctic Circle in Canada. Located at Mile 203 (Kilometre 327), this and other similar strips were essential for overcoming the immense logistical challenges of building a road through remote, undeveloped, and unforgiving subarctic terrain. Operations would have consisted primarily of STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-3 Otter, and DHC-6 Twin Otter, which were the workhorses of the Canadian north. These aircraft ferried workers, delivered crucial supplies and parts, and provided a lifeline for medical evacuations from the isolated construction sites.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening this site as a formal, registered airport. Its original purpose is obsolete, and there is no economic or community-based demand for a new airport at this remote location. The site continues to serve its secondary purpose as a potential emergency landing strip by virtue of its design as a straight section of highway, but a formal reactivation with aviation services is highly improbable.