Whistler

Let’s be clear: Whistler isn’t a typical BC community. It’s a global brand, a world-class mountain resort built on a single, powerful economic engine: tourism. The entire apparatus—from Whistler Blackcomb down to the village retail shops and a massive accommodation sector—is designed to serve a transient, international clientele. This creates a unique real estate and lending environment that requires a specific lens.

On the surface, the appeal is undeniable, and the numbers show it. The community has seen a 19% population boom since 2016. It’s a four-season playground with a desirability few other locations in the province can match. This drives strong property values, fueled by second-home buyers, international investors, and wealthy buyers looking for a lifestyle asset. The housing stock itself is a mix—roughly equal parts single-family homes, townhouses, and condos—but its primary function is serving the transient vacation market, not permanent residents. You see this in the demographics: a massive 80% of the population is working-age, yet the town is marketed as a destination for retirees and vacationers. It’s a place people work, not necessarily a place they build a life. That dynamic makes it tough for a typical first-time buyer to find a footing.

When we look under the hood, however, our risk model flags serious structural problems. The local economy isn’t just reliant on tourism; it’s entirely dependent on it. Accommodation and food services alone account for over a quarter of all jobs, with construction and retail making up another 20%—all directly tied to the resort’s fortunes. That concentration creates extreme volatility. A global recession, a pandemic, or even just a couple of bad snow years can gut local employment. That huge working-age population suddenly faces instability. The 17.5% unemployment rate isn’t a temporary blip; it’s a built-in feature of a seasonal, precarious resort economy.

Our lending philosophy is built on a worst-case recovery scenario. In a market downturn that forces a foreclosure, we have to ask: who is the buyer? In Whistler, we’re not selling a primary residence to another local family. We’re liquidating a luxury or discretionary asset. These are often the first things to be sold when money gets tight, potentially flooding the market just as demand evaporates. Timelines for a sale can stretch into months or years, while interest and holding costs pile up. While the upside in Whistler can be high, the downside risk in a forced sale is just as big, and it doesn’t fit our model of protecting investor principal.

This isn’t a knock on Whistler’s status as a premier destination. It’s simply a mismatch for our conservative, equity-based model. We focus on markets with more diverse economic drivers and a housing stock primarily serving full-time residents. For these reasons, our maximum loan-to-value in Whistler is 0.0%. We don’t currently fund deals in this market.