There are any number of metaphors, sporting or otherwise, one might use to describe Whistler council’s push to the next municipal elections in 2026.
The fourth quarter. The back nine. Endgame. The final act. The waning hours. The third trimester.
In this case, we went with the one most conceptually pleasing to Pique’s art director, Jon Parris. He has to design 52 or so of these covers every year, see, and often we don’t give him much stylistic direction, or even lead-time (as is the case this week). So it’s good to throw him a bone every now and then.
So yes, take your pick of metaphor—they all apply.
However you wish to say it, Whistler’s mayor and council is in the later stages of its term, with a new council set to be elected in the fall of 2026.
Whistler’s elected officials took stock of progress made and what’s left to come by way of a strategic plan update in late March, covering all four of council’s key priorities: housing, climate action, engagement and smart tourism.
What comes next for new housing in Whistler? How is the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) approaching Donald Trump’s trade war? And which global pop superstar ruined Christmas for hundreds of Whistlerites?
All these questions and more will be answered in the next four pages or less.
But make no mistake: we’re in the endgame now (of the council term).
HOUSING
If you had to choose one priority to be held above all others—both for council and the community at large—it would be housing. And Whistler’s current council has made steady progress on that front during its term.
Since council’s election in the fall of 2022, the RMOW has completed three new buildings in Cheakamus Crossing’s Phase 2, with a fourth in the final planning stages. The RMOW completed its Housing Action Plan in May 2023, advanced some projects through the private sector employee housing initiative, and also worked to incorporate new provincial legislation, such as the Small Scale Multi Unit Housing (SSMUH) bylaw, into municipal processes.
Looking to the final stretch of council’s term, there are some notable “to-dos”: continuing to support and prioritize private sector affordable housing projects as they come in the door; reviewing potential social housing levers and options; finalizing a financing model for Cheakamus’ Lot 3, “and then work with the housing and strategy committee as well as our subsidiaries to identify the next housing site past June 2026,” said municipal chief administrative officer Ginny Cullen in a presentation to the COW.
Having shovel-ready sites has been a key component in Whistler’s success building housing in recent years, noted Councillor Cathy Jewett.
“Going beyond Cheakamus Crossing 2 Is there a view down the road to what's next? Is that part of the plan going forward?” she asked.
One of the RMOW’s priorities is to work with the Whistler Housing Authority and Whistler Development Corp (WDC) to identify future housing sites, but there’s no firm answer to that question just yet, Cullen said.
Seeking continued urgency on the housing front, Mayor Jack Crompton introduced a resolution, supported by council, stating the RMOW will work with its housing subsidiaries “to identify, pursue funding for and initiate permitting of a comprehensive development site for WDC development by or before June 2026.”
The target is not “unreasonably audacious,” said GM of climate action, planning and development services Dale Mikkelsen, noting the RMOW’s planning team is working to determine the resort’s total land inventory, cross-referencing it with protected areas and habitat priority areas, and waiting to confirm Complete Communities funding from the Union of BC Municipalities.
“So all of those will coalesce this year in 2025 and give us a really good lens on what development footprint we have within our municipal boundaries,” Mikkelsen said.
“And then [we can] look at, with the Cheakamus Community Forest, where we are well-served in terms of community-based retail, commercial opportunities, etc., transit, that speaks to a good place to identify a comprehensive development zone against the lands that we have access to.”
RED-TAPE REDUCTION
On the housing front, Crompton noted Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to cancel the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), and wondered about potential impacts to Whistler. The federal government and the RMOW announced more than $2.5 million for local housing initiatives through the HAF in February.
“If for some reason it got canceled, it's not going to be catastrophic,” Cullen said. “But this is obviously very helpful for being able to advance and accelerate initiatives that we already had on our list.”
Part of the HAF funds will be used to modernize Whistler’s building bylaw and fee schedule as a means of cutting down on red tape, Mikkelsen said.
“Part of that fee schedule will also be itemizing the types of application as well as the digitization of building records,” he said, noting as far as workflow efficiencies, the modernized bylaw will “help accelerate” the front-end experience.
“So right now, when you submit an application, it really doesn't matter what kind of building renovation, scale, magnitude, it’s very confusing for applicants,” Mikkelsen said. “So it will be streamlined in that if you're just doing, say, a simple renovation versus building a new single-family home, you'll have a different application process, and it would be clear what your submissions are.
The HAF is also helping facilitate an accelerated approval and permit process for affordable housing projects, “and we're just working on that document right now, so it'll be in front of you in a few months,” Mikkelsen said.
“Anything providing affordable or employee housing would have some level of prioritization in the building permit process.”
Another big project underway is the Creekside West Neighbourhood Plan, which seeks to envision future proposed land-use and development changes in Whistler’s original neighbourhood through the lens of provincial SSMUH legislation.
Council will hear a report on the first round of engagement at an upcoming council meeting.
“Our concern, as was raised in the public engagement process around that, is if we don't do this work now, then the SSMUH bylaw could supersede opportunity in Creeskide West,” Mikkelsen said. “So we want to make sure we have the neighborhood plan in place, and then the OCP considered so that folks that do own property in Creekside West, that do want to deliver projects with employee- or resident-restricted housing have more variety of forms where we get actually more units.”
CLIMATE ACTION
On the topic of climate action, another of council’s key priorities, the biggest focus is likely wildfire protection and mitigation—particularly after the disastrous L.A. fires in January that scorched more than 24,000 hectares, and the catastrophic blaze that levelled Jasper last year.
Mikkelsen noted the RMOW was able to conduct fuel-thinning work “at a much higher level of pace” recently, allowing for up to five areas to be thinned per year.
“The original program was not as aggressive as that, so that's the core piece of work,” Mikkelsen said, adding local FireSmarting efforts have also accelerated.
“I believe we had about 28 community workshops, or neighbourhood workshops, on FireSmarting. We had, I think it was almost just over 80 tree-chipping events, community based events, and several thousand tons of wood chip removed from the forest floor.”
Mikkelsen noted an update to the Community Wildfire Resilience Plan is expected at council on May 13.
Referencing the L.A. fires, Jewett wondered about the status of Whistler’s evacuation plan.
Reviewing regional-level evacuation plans to ensure they sync up with neighbouring communities is a top priority, Cullen said, noting the RMOW wants to take a “team approach” to the update.
“As we saw at the Emergency Operations Centre activation in the landslide incident at Lions Bay [in December], we had really amazing coordination between Tourism Whistler and the hotels, ourselves and others,” she said. “So we'd want to continue to build off those models and what's working, and look at all options.”
Further to the climate/environmental file, the RMOW will continue incorporating its Big Moves Climate Action Plan in all council decisions, while also continuing work on active transportation initiatives (a dedicated bike lane on Village Gate Blvd., or secure bike parking for example).
There’s also implementation of the RMOW’s updated priority habitat framework, which Cullen said will be incorporated into the 2028 Official Community Plan update.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
As far as community engagement, council’s third key priority, the “big flagship project” is the municipal website redesign, for which council budgeted more than $100,000 this year.
The upgrade is important for connecting with the community, said GM of community engagement and cultural services Karen Elliott.
“What we're finding from research on building trust in local government is that about 30 per cent of residents will judge or base their trust in government based on their digital experience, which is really interesting,” Elliott said.
“So if we're hard to navigate or they can't find the information they're looking for, their automatic inclination for 30 per cent of them is to kind of write us off. And so later this spring, launching this new website becomes really important and really the foundation of connecting with our community.”
The RMOW wants to refine some recently launched programs like coffee with a councillor, or borrow a councillor, Elliott said, while also looking at ways to allow residents to provide feedback in ways they might not expect.
But looking ahead to 2025, one event stands above all the others: the RMOW’s 50th anniversary celebrations, for which plans are still being finalized.
“So that's exciting, and there'll be a number of different ways where the RMOW and others will be engaging with the community,” Cullen said.
Winter will also see the return of Whistler Winterlight, and the fan-favourite Ferris wheel that mysteriously hung around for just two days leaving dozens, perhaps hundreds missing out.
To hear it from Cullen, the Ferris wheel was spirited away down the highway after just two days as it was needed in Vancouver for a different, slightly larger event.
“It’s likely Taylor Swift will not be in town to steal our Ferris wheel away,” she said. “So that one will be back.”
SMART TOURISM
On smart tourism, council’s fourth key priority, Cullen held up the redevelopment of Rainbow Park as a comprehensive example.
The park’s redesign incorporated climate-resilient landscaping, improved access to water and the park itself, and created opportunities for local food trucks, she said.
“So I think that continues to be a really good example of what we mean. And how do we expand this to the whole resort?” Cullen said.
“Looking forward, we have a number of items under smart tourism, so finalizing some of our parks and trail strategies, looking at whether there's opportunities to do phased park improvements to sections of parks, rather than full closures that happened with Rainbow Park … and then looking for ways for us to make progress on [expanding cultural education for residents and visitors].”
As far as tourism and business in Whistler goes, the spectre of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs continues to hang over all of Canada.
In an emailed statement, the RMOW said it is “looking in detail” at how the tariffs could impact costs, and taking a “measured and cautious” approach.
The risk of recession has increased, which could be impactful for Whistler, the statement noted.
“When assessing our own budget, the primary concern for the municipality is that a trade war could increase prices. The RMOW appears to be in a good position to weather uncertainty for 2025. Infrastructure Services has already signed contracts representing 44 per cent of the value of its 2025 projects—which is ahead of schedule—and several contractors have also locked in material prices for 2025,” the statement said.
“While minimal impact is expected this year, there is nonetheless long-term risk. Contract renewals are likely to be more costly in a tariff scenario and there is uncertainty around our procurement decisions. As such, we are contacting suppliers and reviewing our existing contracts, and making adjustments, to be as proactive as possible.”
The RMOW will continue to monitor procurement costs as it works to stay on budget, the statement added.
“ We will delay work or maintenance costs to absorb inflation wherever possible and will communicate any changes as part of the 2026 Budget process,” it said.
While local officials will continue focusing on balancing visitation, the shoulder seasons will be an increasing focus.
“There was an interesting insight from an external consultant recently, which is, why are you doubling down on winter?” Cullen said. “Winter is shrinking, so your opportunity is in the area that is expanding, and so I think there needs to be more discussion around October and April.”
THE HOME STRETCH
As council stares down the final year and a half of its term, Cullen made an appeal for local officials to look beyond even the next election.
“What do we need to leave behind so that those who come after us have the tools and resources that they need?” she said. “So when we stretch our thinking out 20 to 25 years, we see a greater number of needs in the community as Whistler becomes a more diverse town with a range of ages and demographics and more likely a higher population. So what do we need to have in place?”
Climate impacts will become more visible in the years ahead, and future councils will have hard choices to make around what gets funded and what falls to others.
“Either way, the importance of ensuring care and maintenance is ongoing and priorities and reserves are kept healthy will be an area of key focus. So too will be finding ways to increase revenue to the organization, and to decouple from some user-based costs, from property tax,” Cullen said.
“So I would say that one of the roles of this council is to start signalling what will need to take shape in the next council's term. That should be part of what we are communicating as well.”
