Housing opportunities
The Vancouver and Whistler Olympic Villages built for the Olympic Games were constructed with legacy in mind.
Temporary accommodation from the Whistler Olympic Village was relocated to six communities in British Columbia to provide 156 permanent, affordable homes for elderly, homeless and low-income residents. The permanent infrastructure was transformed into a 100-bedroom lodge that offers short-term and long-term rental options. It also caters for Canadian athletes training at the Whistler Olympic sporting facilities, as well as cultural and educational groups.
The Vancouver Olympic Village highlights Vancouver’s efforts in favour of sustainable development. The Village uses innovative energy efficiency and sustainability systems such as solar heating and green roofs. Its ongoing development has seen it become a vibrant district, with its population expected to reach 20,000 by 2020. The initial construction plan consisted of 18 buildings with over 800 units of market housing and 252 units for social housing. However, due to the global economic downturn starting in 2008, the plans to finance part of the construction through a New York-based hedge fund did not succeed, and the original target for social housing units had to be scaled down by 50 per cent.