Housing

The Resort Municipality of Whistler's (RMOW) goal is to work with community stakeholders to achieve appropriate and affordable housing for the resort's workforce

Task Force Recommended Actions

1. Tourist Accommodation Review and 2. Home Run Program

The Tourist Accommodation Review ensures residential homes are not being used for nightly rental.
The Home Run Program matches resort businesses with property owners.

3. Development Cost Charge Update

An update to the Employee Housing Service Charge Bylaw is underway to ensure commercial, industrial and tourist accommodation developments are contributing towards new employee housing.

4. Build additional resident restricted housing

RMOW plans to expand Cheakamus Crossing to build more resident-restricted housing for the permanent resident workforce. In addition, Whistler Housing Authority continues to work on other housing projects.

5. Allow private rental developments

Allow the private development of resident restricted rentals on underdeveloped private lands.

6. Infill housing opportunities

A new and expanded infill program is being considered to permit the addition of a new resident restricted dwelling to existing residential properties.

7. Refine resident restricted eligibility and enforcement

Further refine resident restricted eligibility and enforcement to protect housing for Whistler's workforce.

Mayor's Task Force on Resident Housing Process

The Task Force has been engaged in an extensive process convening six meetings over the past year, in addition to a number of sub-committee working groups. Whistler's Housing Context Infographic on a page.

Council Presentations

March 6, 2018: Update on progress of Task Force initiatives, including household income and affordability considerations.
January 23, 2018: Resident Housing Updates regarding WHA and Cheakamus Crossing future developments.
December 19, 2017: Housing Task Force Council Presentation & Final Report From the Mayor's Task Force. Council received the final report and directed staff to implement the Task Force actions as a priority and ensure appropriate staff resources are allocated accordingly.
October 3, 2017: Task Force Recommendations to Council. Council passed a resolution to direct staff to arrange a community engagement forum to seek feedback on the proposed recommendations.
March 7, 2017: Update to Council on housing regarding the progress to date and the upcoming housing needs survey.

Community Engagement

November 2, 2017: Community Forum Presentation. The Community Forum had a strong attendance and extensive participation by community members in the dialogue sessions.
June 6, 2017:Community Housing Survey Key Findings & 2017 Community Housing Survey Full Report. Extensive Research was conducted to better understand the current and future housing needs. 1,519 respondents filled out the online survey following a random phone and intercept survey of 575 workers and 201 homeowners launched in March.