Looking to get caught up on the latest from Council? We’ve pulled together some key stories from the October 7, 2025 Regular Council meeting, including:
- Council adds fixed rental rate option for employee housing projects in need of financing
- Council looks to expand transit service, add new passes
For all the details, find council reports and video recordings of the full meetings at whistler.ca.
Council makes financing WHA rental projects easier
On October 7, Council voted to amend the rental rate structure for certain Whistler Housing Authority-managed (WHA) rental properties, an effort to improve financial viability of new affordable employee housing projects.
The amendment to Council Policy K-01, which applies to rental housing properties under the management and administration of the WHA, adds a fixed rental rate to be used in certain cases for the financial viability of new affordable employee housing projects.
The WHA’s rent-geared-to-income rate, set at approximately 30 per cent of a housing applicant’s gross household income, will continue to be the default metric for WHA rental projects, with the fixed rental rate only applied in specific instances in which financing is necessary, as determined by Council.
Council now has the discretion to fix a monthly rental rate that does not exceed 30 per cent of BC Housing’s middle-income limit, subject to minimum and maximum rates. Reflecting a gross household income not exceeding the 75th income percentiles for families with children in B.C., the middle-income limit is a common affordability metric accepted by provincial and federal granting agencies that is calculated and published annually by BC Housing.
Applying the fixed rental rate will be determined by Council through the adoption of an employee housing agreement bylaw, a level of scrutiny designed to limit it from being used indiscriminately.
While the rent-geared-to-income rate provides certainty for prospective tenants, it also means new employee housing projects often require additional equity contributions. For recent projects, this funding gap has been filled by a combination of RMOW housing reserves, WHA contributions, Municipal and Regional District Tax revenue, and grants and subsidies received from other levels of government. As these equity sources become exhausted, other ways to fill the equity gap are necessary for employee housing projects to keep advancing. Applied appropriately, the fixed rental rate would boost rental revenue and allow projects to qualify for larger mortgages.
“Financial factors are always changing in building housing, so the more financial enablers we have, the better, and this is a good tool,” said Councillor Arthur De Jong.
Staff proposed applying the fixed rental rate to 20 of the 125 units slated for 1600 Mount Fee Road in Cheakamus Crossing, which would reduce the project’s reliance on RMOW reserves and WHA sources, while still remaining eligible for housing grants.
Read the full report here.
Housing agreement sets rental rates for 1600 Mount Fee Road
Council on October 7 gave first readings to a housing agreement bylaw for 1600 Mount Fee Road, an 125-unit affordable employee housing project slated for Lot 3 in Cheakamus Crossing.
The agreement establishes occupancy and eligibility restrictions, maximum rental rates, and more. The units — 100 apartment units and 20 townhouse units — are expected to be purchased by the Whistler Housing Authority and operated as affordable employee housing.
The proposed maximum monthly rental rates are:
- $2,069.36 per month for studio units
- $2,510.36 for one-bedroom units
- $3,502.00 for each two-bedroom unit
Actual rental rates will be set at 30 per cent of a tenant’s gross income. The agreement also permits tenants to rent the second room of a two-bedroom unit to an eligible employee, with the maximum room rental rate set at half of the maximum rent for the entire unit.
For the 20 three-bedroom townhouse units, the proposed rental rate would be based on BC Housing’s middle-income limit, which establishes a maximum monthly rent of $5,025.75.
Read the full report here.
Council looks to expand Whistler Transit service, approves new passes
Council has approved a recommendation to expand transit service in Whistler and launch several new pass products.
If approved by the Province, the expansion would add 14,200 service hours and four buses in January 2027, a 16-per-cent increase in service from this year. This would increase year-round service on the Route 10-Valley Express from 30-minute to 15-minute frequency and allow for higher housing density in transit-oriented development areas, per provincial legislation.
“Moving the No. 10 from 30- to 15-minute intervals would trigger Bill 44 to a six-unit threshold all along Highway 99 near those bus stops,” explained Climate and Environment Manager Luisa Burhenne.
The service expansion is estimated to cost the RMOW a total of $1,230,500, which, if approved, would be included in the 2027 municipal budget.
Council also approved a staff recommendation to introduce several pass products to Whistler Transit’s offerings. The Whistler ProPass is a payroll deduction program that would allow participating employers to offer a 15-per-cent discounted transit pass to five or more employees for a minimum of six months. Administered by BC Transit, employers would be billed monthly.
The RMOW has also been working with Village of Pemberton to introduce two new Pemberton-Whistler multi-system passes, called the Dual DayPASS and the 30-Day Dual Pass. These passes would be valid on the Pemberton 99 Commuter route, as well as for local service in both Pemberton and Whistler, allowing for seamless service between the two systems.
Staff recommended the 30-Day Dual Pass be priced at no more than $130, and the Dual DayPass at no more than $12.
At Council’s direction, staff also presented the potential cost savings achieved by eliminating fare-free transit service on weekends and holidays. Ultimately, removing fare-free service would save approximately $98,000 annually.
BC Transit’s data shows more than half of riders purchase some form of pass valid for 30 days or more, and do not receive any financial benefit from the fare-free program. So far this year, ridership on fare-free weekends was only five per cent higher than on weekdays.
Read the full report here.
To attend an upcoming meeting, check out the Council meeting Schedule. Agendas and Minutes are available online. To connect with Council, consider Borrowing a Councillor from the Library’s Unusual Items Collection, or get in touch with them individually by phone or email.