Skip to content

City of West Kelowna celebrates 15th birthday

On Dec. 6, 2007, the community was incorporated as Westside District Municipality.
31309405_web1_170417-KCN-Westk-sign
Welcome to West Kelowna sign. (Black Press file photo)

West Kelowna celebrated its 15-year anniversary in December.

On Dec. 6, 2007, the community was incorporated as Westside District Municipality.

This was after a referendum in June of that year which passed by a margin of 5,924 votes to 5,582. The option was to amalgamate with the City of Kelowna.

On Jan. 30, 2009, the municipality was renamed West Kelowna, and then the City of West Kelowna on Jun. 26, 2015.

Rosalind Neis was elected the first mayor and served for one year. Doug Findlater was elected mayor during the 2008 municipal elections, serving for three terms. Gord Milsom won the mayor’s chair in 2018, and was re-elected in Oct. 2022.

“Congratulations to everyone who has helped bring our city along to be such a wonderful city as it is today,” said Milsom. “We’ve come a long way and accomplished a lot over 15 years.”

In 2007, West Kelowna was home to approximately 29,000 residents. Today, about 39,000 people call the city home.

READ MORE: Flip-flop on meeting clock for West Kelowna council


@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our daily and subscribe to our daily newsletter.



Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Recently joined Kelowna Capital News and WestK News as a multimedia journalist in January 2022. With almost 30 years of experience in news reporting and radio broadcasting...
Read more