Whistler might have been British Columbia’s first resort municipality, and we learned from the employee housing shortages experienced in many other resorts around the world. As a result, the RMOW understood the importance of housing a local workforce locally since the beginning.
Early days of the ski resort
The Whistler Mountain ski area and gravel road from Vancouver opened in 1965. This led to a flurry of unregulated development in the area. The provincial government wanted to further develop tourism and a Municipal Affairs and Planning Services Department report recommended an Official Community Plan for Whistler, along with a sewage system and proper garbage dump.
B.C.’s first resort municipality
In 1975, the Resort Municipality of Whistler was incorporated to manage the recreational environment, and balance infrastructure development for visitors and residents.
The Official Community Plan defined how land could be developed, with zoning for tourist accommodation and residential homes. This zoning was designed to balance development serving visitors and residents, to benefit the tourism sector and the need to house residents and community.
Whistler Valley Housing Society
In 1983, Council worked with local businesses to form the Whistler Valley Housing Society (WVHS): a non-profit organization founded to build affordable housing. The organization’s efforts were supported by the 1990 Employee Housing Service Charge Bylaw, which required developers to either build resident housing or contribute to a housing fund. WVHS continues to thrive, building their latest social housing project on Mount Fee Road in 2023.
Whistler Housing Authority
In 1997, the Resort Municipality of Whistler created the Whistler Housing Authority, an independent arm of the municipal government that oversees development of price-restricted homes for sale and rent. This was an innovative move to enrich the local community and support local business. It also supported Whistler’s early interest in climate action; living locally allows for a short commute by bike, trail or bus.
Cheakamus Crossing employee neighbourhood
The Cheakamus Crossing neighborhood is a housing legacy from the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The provincial government donated this land for athlete housing with the long-term vision for the community to build residential homes for its workers following the Games.
The first phase of housing was built using $37.5 million from VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Games) and developed by the Whistler 2020 Development Corporation.
Cheakamus Crossing housed 3,500 athletes and officials during the Games. These then became 221 employee-restricted homes, 151 employee-restricted rental units, a 110-bed hostel, 60 market townhouses, as well as 42 single-family and duplex lots.
Five hundred of the homes are connected to the District Energy System, which uses heat energy from treated wastewater at the nearby Wastewater Treatment Plant, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the neighborhood by 95 per cent, if compared with natural gas.
Cheakamus Crossing also has a high-performance training facility, 100-room Athletes’ Lodge, and 20 athletes’ townhouses owned and managed by Whistler Sport Legacies.
The second phase of Cheakamus Crossing development is underway and already is home to many Whistler employees and their families.
In addition, there is more Legacy Land for future employee housing development.
Mayor’s Task Force on Resident Housing
In 2016, Council launched the Mayor’s Task Force on Resident Housing. The goal was to provide over 1,000 new beds for Whistler employees in five years. After achieving 1,000 new beds, through a mixture of new buildings and policy changes, the Task Force ended. The RMOW sponsored new homes through the WHA and established a new bylaw against using residential housing for tourist accommodation. The Home Run program rental incentive program, private development and additional housing in Cheakamus Crossing helped build numbers, as did updates to the Development Cost Charges in the resort.
Housing Needs Report
The 2022 Housing Needs Report showed how housing needs have evolved in our community.
Housing Action Plan
In 2023, the 2023 to 2026 Strategic Plan showed the need to create our current Housing Action Plan.
2023 and 2024 provincial housing legislation
The Province of British Columbia passed the Homes for People (PDF) plan in 2023 to increase housing across the province. The plan is designed to increase the number of homes built and the province also introduced legislation to help municipalities regulate tourism rentals in 2024. Read how the legislation affects Whistler.
