Whistler’s permanent population fell to 15,625 in 2024—a decrease of 440 people from 2023. Although the resort has mostly experienced sustained, steady growth over the long-term—including a 19-per-cent uptick between the 2016 and 2021 census—its population showed greater signs of volatility emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Whistler was no doubt affected by pandemic-fuelled mobility trends—six in 10 Canadians who relocated during the pandemic cited COVID as a factor—Jackie Dickinson, executive director of the Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS), theorized the recent decline was likely influenced by economic factors.
“My first thought and concern goes to the people who potentially felt like this is an unaffordable place to live and exist,” she said.
It’s a trend Dickinson has seen first-hand at WCSS. She said several staff members, including those in supervisory roles, made the decision to leave the resort last year.
“They were valuable members of our team doing incredible work and there really wasn’t much as an employer we could do to keep them here because they couldn’t see Whistler as a long-term home,” she explained.
Whistler’s population fell last year even as local demand for social services skyrocketed, continuing a pattern that began in the pandemic. November 2024 was the busiest month in the Whistler Food Bank’s 35-year history, tallying 2,262 visits. The spike in demand is not relegated to the food bank, either.
“Every service we have has gone up,” Dickinson said.
It’s a burden social service organizations and food banks have had to shoulder across the country. A recent report from Food Banks BC found household visits to food banks rose by 81 per cent between 2019 and ’24.
Read the full article at Pique Newsmagazine.