Whistler BC

What Is Whistlers’ Bed Cap?

You may or may not know that Whistler has some fascinating differences when compared to other markets in other areas. One of those differences is what is commonly known as the bed unit count or bed cap which would restrict the growth capacity for our village. It was decided by our municipal council during the development of our resort that there should be a limit to the number of people the resort could manage comfortably. In principle what this means is that once this limit is reached, Whistler cannot grow any larger. In theory this would certainly mean that the “supply and demand” factors would surely come in to play as we come closer to reaching that number.

Whistlers’ main village is almost built out and Village North is not far behind. The majority of bed units available for development are located in Whistler Creek, some of which are single-family building lots but the vast majority of bed units are allocated to be condominium units.

While the bed unit allocation will have the biggest impact on real estate values, there are other factors that are adding additional pressure and helping prices rise:

• Summer visits are quickly catching up to the number of winter visits, which has made Whistler a thriving community for all twelve months of the year.
• The news about Whistler is reaching all corners of the world and the demographics show us that our guests are coming from all over the globe as we gear up for the 2010 Olympics.
• No matter what conflicts or downturns other countries may be experiencing, Whistler seems to be a happy and safe place for all to enjoy and we continue to see our tourism industry drawing new visitors as well as past visitors back to Whistler.

What Will The Future Bring?

The consensus among Whistlerites is that we will continue to see the bed cap principle remain in place and it will be enforced to protect the future of our resort as well as the investments of those who wish to invest here. Although no one can predict the future it would seem entirely possible for our Municipal council to adjust the numbers if they feel it would benefit the citizens as a whole but we cannot predict that.