Whistler Local Customs

A few years ago the Vancouver Sun published statistics that Canada gives out 4000 working holiday visas every year to Australians. Out of the 4000 that arrive in Canada for their once-in-a-lifetime chance to work anywhere in the country for one year, 2500 of them end up in Whistler. In the same article they said that Whistler has an approximate permanent population of 10,000 people. So... if 2500 are Australians in a town of only 10,000 people, the likelyhood of you running into an Australian while visiting Whistler is incredibly, incredibly high.

Nowadays, even more working visas are given out to Australians every year. In fact, going to Whistler is becoming a rite of passage for Australians. There really is nowhere else in Canada quite like it. Nowhere else will you find thousands of Australians working all together in one city. Many go there because they want to work in a ski resort. I certainly hope they don't go there to experience an accurate portrayal of the Canadian lifestyle because Whistler's about as far away from that as you can get. Whistler is the epitome of a resort partyland, with a continuous flow of international travellers coming and going. In fact, may locals in Vancouver head up to Whistler to brush up on their Australian culture before making the 18-hour flight across the Pacific!

All this aside, there are certainly no negative feelings towards Australians in Whistler, or anywhere in Canada. They're more than welcome and they all know it! My little blurb here is to acknowledge the unique cultural situation that you'll only find in Whistler, the Mecca in Canada for Australians.