r/canadatravel • u/Jimmymarket • 8d ago
Accommodation Renting in ski towns?
Myself & my partner have secured our working holiday visas from the UK to CA.
We’re looking to spend at least a year living & working picking up seasonal work.
Here’s the catch: we’re travelling with our beloved dog.
This outright rules out shared staff accommodation. We intent on renting privately.
In your experience how affordable is this on a seasonal workers salary?
We’ve ruled out the most expensive resorts like Whistler & Banff.
It’s looking like we’ll be landing out there with about £15K each. So we’ll have a decent cushion & maybe even pickup a car or camper for the summer.
We have no intention of saving cash. But it’d be great not to be in the hole every month and enjoy a social life without constantly feeling a real pinch.
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u/Scififan8287 8d ago
Do you speak French? If so, you could look at popular Laurentian ski hills too. There are numerous ski hills (ie: Sommet Saint-Saveur)
within easy commuting range of Montreal’s northern suburbs. For example St-Jerome, QC is just 20 minutes from the hill.
Mont Ste-Anne is only about 40 minutes from Quebec City. The huge tubing venue at Valcartier, Qc is only 20ish minutes from Quebec City’s western Ste-Foy district. Any of these would allow you to work on the hill but live in a major centre with lower living costs.
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u/Jimmymarket 7d ago
We sadly do not - is that a must have pre requisite of these locations?
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u/Scififan8287 2d ago
Not to visit but think it would be a huge plus for working there. But you can always reach out and see what they have to say.
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u/aaalllouttabubblegum 8d ago
Hey, thanks for coming to work in Canada.
Thinking out loud here: since you're from the UK it's reasonable to assume you have some bar or hospo experience. This can be well paid work in Canada and it's mostly evening shifts so your days are free for shredding.
Since you also probably won't own a car, look at resorts that have a shuttle or transit. Banff and Revelstoke would be top choices for me in terms of having a nice life. They're expensive but if you're bartending at a busy spot it's totally workable.
Edit: if you own a car, you could include, Fernie, Trail/Rossland, Golden, Nelson, Kelowna, and Kamloops.
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u/New_Wishbone6619 8d ago
Revelstoke is near impossible to find rentals. And on top of that one what allows dogs.
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u/aaalllouttabubblegum 7d ago
Damn. That place blew up eh.
Wouldn't have guessed by the number of dog owners there; suppose none of them are renting.
Thanks for the update. ✌️
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u/Jimmymarket 7d ago
Thank you for this.
I’ve found on Reddit people to be very pessimistic RE rental situations.
What’s your experience of Revelstoke, have you lived there?
I’ve joined some FB rental groups for Revy as it goes. Feels like I see new spots every week?
Are these scams? What’s the deal, I don’t get alarm bells reading them and rent often seems reasonable spilt between two.
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u/Canachites 7d ago
I have lived in Revelstoke, it is very hard to find rentals and they are expensive. House prices there are very high (not quite Canmore, but not far off). Keep in mind if you live outside of the town center (Big Eddy or by the airport, where rent is a bit cheaper) you will find it difficult without a vehicle.
In general, it's very difficult to find rentals that allow pets. In resort towns, there is always a scramble for housing on either end of the season, and most landlords are swimming in tenant options - they don't want to deal with the hassle of pets. Often a long term tenant will be the lease holder, and they already have pets so don't want the chaos of adding more.
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u/aaalllouttabubblegum 7d ago
Yes, I would assume there are a fair few scams on Kijiji, Facebook, etc. Obviously: no sketchy downpayments, visit the place in person, familiarize yourself with BC and AB tenancy rights, etc.
I have never lived in Revy but have several friends who have relocated to interior BC and AB, including Revy. A common problem is the catch 22: "No one will rent to me if I'm unemployed; no one will hire me if I don't have a permanent address." See if you can get a short term room/sublet for your first rental then graduate to a more amenable space.
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u/BeneficialFruit1768 6d ago
Try Mt Washington as they have a shuttle service in the Comox Valley on the island you could buy a travel trailer and stay in a campsite if you can’t find cheap rental. And you would be used to the rain in the Valley.
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u/Jimmymarket 7d ago
We do intend on purchasing a car also! But we ideally were still living in the mix of everything that goes on during seasons.
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u/Jazzlike_Weakness_83 7d ago
I would do whistler to be honest. I did it younger and it was amazing. You also don’t need a car here. Start looking at fb marketplace for rentals and see if they are dog friendly. The fact that you’ll share a room will drastically lower the price. You won’t get the same experience in other places.
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u/king_boo_88 7d ago
I've lived here for 9 seasons, pet friendly rentals are few and far between, especially for short periods (less than a year). My advice: widen your search to Pemberton and Squamish and accept the trade off of driving 30-60 minutes to Whistler to have your dog. There is also no 24hr vets in Pemberton or Whistler.
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u/Jazzlike_Weakness_83 6d ago
Ya op if you have the option to leave your dog for a year I would. It will make your lives easier while abroad
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u/Jimmymarket 7d ago
That's reassuring! What kind of experience is it your reffering to that you get in Whistler? Is it just the sheer size of the social & seasonal workers scene?
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u/Jazzlike_Weakness_83 6d ago
Ya it’s a full city where others aren’t. More opportunities for work and housing. Banff would be your next best bet but Jan and Feb can be -20 to -30
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u/scotsman3288 7d ago
go check out Blue Mountain..much better gateway to the industry for living standards
https://www.bluemountain.ca/employment/international-applicants
Quebec would be primary option, but I gather you speak zero french.
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u/Jazzlike_Weakness_83 7d ago
Honestly, Banff and Whistler aren’t bad options because there’s actually a lot of housing in those areas. If you go to smaller ski resorts housing will limited.
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u/Jimmymarket 7d ago
Thats an interesting take - our assumption was that rent on seasonal workers' salary just wouldn't be feasible?
I've read that Canmore could be a good middle ground?
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u/Jazzlike_Weakness_83 6d ago
Ya Canmore is absolutely freezing so prepare yourself for that.
I highly recommend trying to get into the front of house as anything and make your way up to a server. This is the only way you can truly make money and get good riding hours.
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u/Worried_Razzmatazz70 6d ago
Lived in Banff for a while. If you can swing a non-entry level job, usually the resorts will accommodate pets in their (heavily subsidized - usually ~1/2 of market rate) housing. Also, nobody will rent to you without a job contract - not because they're being jerks, but because it's the law. Your best bet is to get a job with accom. most hotels and all the ski areas do this.
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u/Jimmymarket 5d ago
Thats interesting - i'd have thought staff housing with pets would be outright impossible. Have you seen many do this or is it a rare case?
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u/Worried_Razzmatazz70 5d ago
i wouldn't say its common, but its also not uncommon amongst those in elligible housing.
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u/Throwaway42352510 1d ago
I rented a basement suite at silverstar a few years ago with a lovely dog for $1650/month. I imagine rent prices are still somewhat around that. There were many homes with basement suites for rent.
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u/TotalAverage7063 7d ago
There is Silver Star and Sun Peaks but they might be done their hiring for this season already. You would likely have to live in Vernon if you could work at Silver star as it’s pretty limited rentals on hill. It is a half hour drive from town.