My Whistler – Ann Chiasson

High-stress jobs come and go, but sometimes people have to follow their hearts and dial it back a notch. Ann Chiasson was looking to do just that in 1977 when, after having made strong acquaintances in Whistler since her first visit here six years earlier, she decided to make the leap from working in promising but stressful jobs in Ottawa.
As Chiasson said recently, “I decided that I was going to just go do it for myself” and move to a laid-back ski town that many friends and co-workers in Ontario had never heard of.
Forty-eight years later, Chiasson — who co-owns RE/MAX Sea to Sky Real Estate Ltd. with son Matthew — was a finalist for not one, but two major honours at the Whistler Excellence Awards 2025: Citizen of the Year and Business Person of the Year. Chiasson “inspires and strengthens the community, earning respect for her generosity, vision, and collaborative spirit,” states one of her finalist profiles.

In 1977, a small but enthusiastic group of locals — including a who’s who of those who helped make the community what it is today — staged regular get-togethers at the handful of night spots that existed back then.
“In the 1970s, the big place to go was L’Après, which is now Dusty’s. It would be a lot of locals and Japanese tourists, who didn’t speak English but knew all the words to the Beatles songs, singing along,” Chiasson said.
At a gathering in 1978 at the gone-but-certainly-not-forgotten Boot Pub, Francis Chiasson — newly arrived from Jasper — agreed to sing in a Gong Show-themed talent contest, but didn’t have his guitar on hand. He borrowed Ann’s.
“He was competing against people that lit their farts on fire… that kind of stuff,” Ann said, later adding, “Francis came second but won my heart.” They’ve been together 47 years.